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A  HISTORY  OF  ^^^ 

CONNECTICUT 

ITS  PEOPLE  AND  INSTITUTIONS 


BY 

GEORGE  L.  CLARK 

AUTHOR  OF 

"SILAS  DEANE:  A  LEADER  IN  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION," 

"  NOTIONS  OF  A  YANKEE  PARSON,"  ETC. 


WITH  100  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
Zlbe     mnicfterbocfeer     press 

1914 


Copyright,  1914 

BY 

GEORGE    L.    CLARK 


Ubc  linfclserbocfjer  preas,  -ftew  IBorft 


MY   CHILDREN 

THIS   VOLUME    IS   AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 

IN   MEMORY   OF 

HAPPY   DAYS 

IN 
CONNECTICUT 


CONNECTICUT 

'T  is  a  rough  land  of  earth  and  stone  and  tree, 

Where  breathes  no  castled  lord  or  cabined  slave; 

Where  thoughts  and  tongues  and  hands  are  bold  and  free, 

And  friends  will  find  a  welcome,  foes  a  grave; 

And  where  none  kneel,  when  to  Heaven  they  pray, 

Nor  even  then,  unless  in  their  own  way. 

Fitz-Greene  Halleck. 


PREFACE 

WHILE  Connecticut  is  passing  from  foundation  work 
and  a  style  of  living,  moulded  by  the  frugal  Puritan 
influences  of  the  early  years,  into  conditions,  shaped  largely 
by  people  from  many  other  lands;  while  wealth,  luxuries 
and  amusements  multiply,  it  is  well  to  review  the  past, 
study  the  reasons  for  the  migrations  hither;  glance  at  early 
idealism,  hardships  and  problems;  see  the  thrift,  wari- 
ness and  common  sense;  observe  what  farmers  had  for 
breakfast,  what  and  how  they  believed,  the  way  they  worked, 
struggled  and  occasionally  played;  how  fines  as  well  as 
interest  in  a  warm  theology  promoted  attendance  at  the 
icy  meeting-house.  It  is  diverting  to  notice  leather  breeches, 
home-spun  coats  and  linsey-woolsey  gowns  issuing  from 
forest,  sheep-pasture  and  flax-field;  watch  the  evolution  of 
the  log-house  into  the  gambrel-roofed  and  lean-to;  see  the 
bridle-path  widen  and  harden  into  turnpike,  railroad  and 
trolley;  schooner  change  to  steamboat  and  ferry  to  bridge; 
mark  how  the  versatile  people  managed  with  Indians,  wolves, 
rattlesnakes,  witchcraft,  slavery,  tramps  and  Sunday;  how 
they  erected  schools,  meeting-houses,  whipping-posts  and 
pillories  in  every  town;  how  they  relieved  the  monotony  of 
brewing  beer,  working  the  loom  and  hoeing  com  by  a  journey 
to  Tower  Hill  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  a  moving  picture  of  a 
public  hanging.  We  are  to  see  the  innocent-looking  sloop 
go  down  the  river  toward  Barbados,  loaded  with  horses, 
pipe-staves,  salted  fish,  beef  and  pork,  returning  with  a 
cargo  of  mm  and  molasses,  or  of  unwilling  immigrants  from 


vm 


Preface 


Guinea;  examine  afresh  the  evolution  of  town  and  colonial 
government;  the  working  of  Charles  II 's  liberal  charter;  the 
development  of  courts,  schools,  colleges,  taxation,  insurance, 
temperance,  music,  art,  literature,  industries,  penal  and 
reformatory  methods,  philanthropies  and  religious  freedom; 
how  slavery  grew,  waned  and  ceased;  mines  were  opened, 
inventions  multiplied,  looms  worked  and  brickyards 
poured  forth  their  treasure;  how  tobacco  fields,  market 
gardens,  orchards,  factories,  Yankee  notions  and  tin-peddlers 
flourished. 

In  touching  so  many  interests,  adventurous  were  the 
daring  that  should  expect  to  include  in  one  volume  all  that 
deserves  saying,  and  with  infallible  accuracy,  but  in  this 
endeavor  to  describe  the  place  and  influence  of  Connecticut 
in  the  onward  movement  of  the  country,  the  author  believes 
that  the  work  invites  to  an  instructive  and  interesting 
excursion  into  a  vital  and  inspiring  field. 

The  author  wishes  to  express  his  hearty  thanks  to  all 
who  helped  him  by  suggestions  and  criticisms :  chief  of  these 
is  Charles  M.  Andrews,  Professor  of  History  in  Yale  College, 
who,  with  accurate  scholarship,  made  many  invaluable 
comments.  Among  others  who  have  placed  the  writer 
under  decided  obligations  are  the  following  librarians: 
George  S.  Godard  of  the  State  Library,  Albert  C.  Bates  of 
the  Connecticut  Historical  Society  Library,  Frank  B.  Gay 
and  Forrest  Morgan  of  the  Watkinson  Library.  Material 
assistance  has  also  been  rendered  in  lines  in  which  they  are 
experts  by  President  F.  S.  Luther  and  Professor  J.  J.  McCook 
of  Trinity  College,  Professor  W.  S.  Pratt  of  Hartford  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Professors  W.  M.  Bailey,  Williston 
Walker  and  H.  A.  Beers  of  Yale  University;  Dr.  Edwin  A. 
Down,  Chairman  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities;  C.  D.  Hine, 
Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Education;  Dr.  W.  N. 
Thompson,  Superintendent  of  the  Hartford  Retreat  for  the 
Insane;  Dr.  G.  H.  Knight,  late  Superintendent  of  the  School 
for  the  Feeble-minded;  Albert  Garvin,  Superintendent  of 


Pref 


ace  IX 


the  State  Reformatory;  W.  A.  Garner,  Warden  of  the  Con- 
necticut State  Prison;  W.  G.  Fairbank,  Superintendent  of 
the  Connecticut  Industrial  School  for  Girls;  C.  M.  Williams, 
Superintendent  of  the  Connecticut  School  for  Boys;  Dr. 
W.  E.  Fisher  of  the  staff  of  the  Connecticut  Hospital  for  the 
Insane;  Dr.  H.  M.  Pollock,  Superintendent  of  the  Norwich 
Hospital  for  the  Insane;  E.  M.  Warner,  Esquire,  of  Putnam; 
C.  M.  Thompson,  Secretary  of  the  Connecticut  Prison  Asso- 
ciation; J.  M.  Taylor,  President  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual 
Insurance  Company;  Burton  Mansfield,  Insurance  Commis- 
sioner; W.  S.  Corbin  and  C.  C.  Maxfield,  Tax  Commissioner 
O  and  Clerk;  R.  B.  Brandegee,  C.  N.  Flagg  and  James  Britton, 
artists;  Charles  Hopkins  Clark  of  the  Hartford  Courant  and 
Professor  Anson  D.  Morse  of  Amherst  College. 

G.  L.  C. 

Wethersfield,  Connecticut, 
April  I,  1914. 


CONTENTS 


I    The  Prehistoric  Period 


I 


II  The  Settlement       .....         4 

III  Settlement  Concluded    .         .         .         .17 

IV  The  Indians 28 

V  Wars  with  the  Indians    ....       38 

VI  Forming  the  Government         •         •         •       53 

VII  Courts  and  Laws      .         .         .         .         .81 

VIII  How  THE  People  Lived  in  the  Early  Days    ioi 

IX  The  Early  Religious  Life        .         .         .119 

X  Witchcraft 145 

XI  Slavery 155 

XII  Connecticut  Struggles  for  Herself  and 

Neighbors  .         .         .         .         .164 

XIII  The  United  Colonies  of  New  England     181 

XIV  Early  Manufactures  and  Commerce         .     185 
XV  Expansion 195 

XVI  Education        ......     207 

XVII  The  Colleges 228 


xii  Contents 

CHAPTER 

XVIII  Development  of  the  Highways 

XIX  The  Great  Awakening     . 

XX  The  Revolution       .... 

XXI  Connecticut   and   the    Constitution   of 
the  United  States       ... 

XXII  Conditions  at  the   Close  of  the  Eigh 
teenth  Century 

XXIII  Finance  and  Taxation 

XXIV  The  Second  War  for  Independence  . 

XXV  The  Constitution  of  i8i8 

XXVI  Inventions,  Discoveries,  and  Industries 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century 

XXVII  The  Later  Religious  Life 

XXVIII  The    Anti-Slavery    Movement    in    Con 
necticut      ..... 

XXIX  Connecticut  in  the  Civil  War 

XXX  Insurance         ..... 

XXXI  Transportation        .... 

XXXI I  The  Poor-Law 

XXXIII  Penal  and  Reformatory  Institutions 

XXXIV  Philanthropic  Institutions 
XXXV  Temperance  Legislation 

XXXVI  Literature       ,  .  ,  .         . 

XXXVII  Art 

XXXVIII  Music 


249 
264 

279 

297 

307 
317 
330 
339 

354 
367 

375 
381 

392 
414 
420 

438 
461 

486 

496 

514 

525 


Contents 


Xlll 


CHAPTER 

XXXIX    Agriculture    .... 

XL    The  City  .... 

XLI    The  Old  Connecticut  and  the  New 

Bibliography  .... 

Index       


PAGE 

547 
553 
561 
565 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


The    Connecticut    State    Capitol,  Hartford,  Conn. 
Completed  in  1879  .         .         .         •    Frontispiece 

The  Perched  Glacial  Bowlder  at  Taftville  .         .  4 

Glacial  Stri^,  Summit  Street,  Hartford          .         .  4 

John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  of  New  London  ....  14 

Rev.  John  Davenport         .                 ....  18 

The  Old  Home  of  Hon.  John  Webster,  Fifth  Governor 

of  Connecticut,  at  Hartford         ....  20 

A  Typical  Chain  Ferry 20 

Whitefield  House,  Guilford,  in  1640.         ...  28 

The  Plan  of  the  Pequot  Fort           ....  42 

Belt  and  Strings  of  Wampum 42 

The  Monument  at  the  Scene  of  the  Swamp  Fight, 

Westport       ....••••  46 

A  Pastoral  Scene  in  Woodstock          ....  50 

Bissell's  Ferry  in  Windsor,  in  Continuous  Operation 

since  about  1645 50 

Yale  College  at  the  Left  and  State  House  near  the 

Middle,  Center  Church  at  the  Right,  New  Haven  60 

The    Title-Page    of    the    First    Election    Sermon 

Preached  in  Connecticut 72 


XVI 


Illustrations 


PAGE 

The  Charter  of  1662  ......       78 

Facsimile  OF  THE  Title-Page  OF  Peter's  History  .         .       92 

Chief- Justice  Oliver  Ellsworth  and  his  Wife,  Abigail 
WoLCOTT  Ellsworth       ......       94 

The  Tapping  Reeve  Law  School  ....      96 

Tapping  Reeve    ........       96 

Facsimile  of  the  Title-Page  of  the  First  Published 
Law  Reports  in  America        .....       98 

Seals  of  Connecticut  and  Hooker's  Declaration  .     100 

Facsimile  Title-page  OF  A  Roger  Sherman  Almanac  .     112 

Edmund  Andros  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .168 

The  Wyllys  Mansion  and  the  Charter  Oak        .  .172 

Early  Sailing  Vessels         .         .         .         .         .  .186 

Abel  Buell's  Petition  FOR  A  Lottery.         .         .  -194 

Ticket  of  a  Lottery  to  Build  the  Bulfinch  State- 
House    .........     200 

The  Connecticut  Land  Gore       .....  200 

The  Horn  Book 218 

A  Page  of  Webster's  Speller     .         .         .         .         .218 

Noah  Webster            ,        .         .        ,         .         .         .  220 

Henry  Barnard           .......  220 

Sarah  Porter     ........  222 

Catherine  E.  Beecher 222 

Emma  Hart  Willard 224 


Illustrations  xvii 


PAGE 


Manasseh  Cutler       .......  226 

The  Buildings  of  Modern  Yale  University        .         ,  230 

View  of  the  Connecticut  State  Library,  on  Capitol 

Hill,  Hartford      .......  230 

Timothy  Dwight          .......  234 

Professor  James  D.  Dana  ......  236 

Professor  Benjamin  Silliman      .....  236 

The  Right  Reverend  Samuel  Seabury,  D.D.     .         .  240 

The  Stage-Coach  America  ......  254 

Chaise  Belonging  to  Sheriff  Ward  of  Worcester      .  254 

A  Stage  Notice  at  Hartford       .....  258 

A  Tavern  Sign  at  Saybrook        .....  258 

The  Connecticut  River  Bridge  (new)          .         .         .  262 

The  Connecticut  River  Bridge  (old)         .         .         .  262 

Jonathan  Edwards      .......  266 

Laurel  in  Winchester        .         .         .         .■         .         .268 

Birthplace  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  South  Windsor        .  268 

Jonathan  Trumbull   .         .         .         .         .         .         .280 

Silas  Deane 284 

General  Israel  Putnam 284 

Israel  Putnam's  Plow         ......  286 

The  Putnam  Wolf  Den,  Pomfret         .         .         .         .286 

Nathan  Hale,  a  Bronze  Statue  in  the  Connecticut 

State  Capitol         .......  288 


xviii  Illvistrations 

PAGE 

The  Groton  Monument  Commemorating  the  Battle 

OF  September  6,  1781       .         ,         .         .         .         .  290 

"  Hospitality  Hall,  "  Wethersfield    ....  292 

A    View   of    Wethersfield   from   the   Connecticut 

River    .........  292 

Roger  Sherman           .......  298 

William  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D..         ....  304 

Samuel  Huntington 304 

The  Old  Home  of  Roger  Sherman,  "The  Signer"  and 

First  Mayor  of  New  Haven 308 

Temple  Street,  New  Haven 308 

A  Yankee  Tin  Peddler 310 

The  Wethersfield  Elm 310 

First  Page  of  First  Copy  of  Connecticut  "Courant"  312 

The  Ruins  of  the  Forge  where  the  Anchor  of  the 
"Constitution"  was  Cast      .         .         .         .         .314 

The  Steamboat  of  John  Fitch 314 

Continental   Currency.     Originals   in   Connecticut 

State  Library        .......  320 

Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr 350 

Eli  Terry 358 

Seth  Thomas 358 

Charles  Goodyear 360 

Samuel  Colt 360 


Illxistrations 

xix 

PAGE 

Eli  Whitney       .... 

. 

362 

First  Church,  Hartford     . 

. 

370 

Henry  Ward  Beecher 

. 

374 

Roger  S.  Baldwin 

. 

378 

Governor  William  A.  Buckingham 

•         •         •         • 

380 

General  Alfred  H.  Terry 

•         •         •         • 

380 

General  Joseph  R.  Hawley 

•         •         •         • 

382 

Major-General  John  Sedgwick 

. 

384 

General  Nathaniel  Lyon  . 

. 

384 

Admiral  Andrew  H.  Foote 

. 

386 

Gideon  Welles  .... 

. 

386 

Modern  Steamboating  on  the  River, 

"The  Hartford 

Line" 

. 

416 

A  Rare  Sketch  of  Newgate  Prison 

. 

438 

Convict  Dining-Room  at  Meal  Hour 

AT  Connecticut 

State  Prison 

. 

442 

The  Main  Cavern     .         .         .         . 

. 

442 

F.  H.  Gallaudet           .         .         . 

. 

472 

Eli  Todd 

. 

472 

Horace  Wells 

. 

482 

Elihu  Burritt 

. 

482 

Fitz-Greene  Halleck 

. 

502 

James  G.  Percival       .        •.         .         . 

. 

502 

Dr.  Horace  Bushnell 

•                •                 • 

504 

XX 


Illustrations 


Harriet  Beecher  Stowe 
Charles  Dudley  Warner    . 
Samuel  L.  Clemens  (Mark  Twain) 
Frederick  E.  Church 
John  Trumbull  .... 

The  Athen^um  and  Morgan  Memorial,  Hartford 
The  Old  State  House,  Hartford,  now  City  Hall 
Dudley  Buck      ....... 

Bear  Mountain,  Salisbury,  2354  Feet  High 
The  Connecticut  State  Flag      .... 


MAPS 


Map  of  Connecticut  1758 


PAGE 
506 

508 

520 

522 
522 

534 
546 
546 

24 


Map  Showing  the  New  York  and  Boston  Post  Road 
in  Connecticut      .......     250 


Map  of  Connecticut,  1914. 


. at  end 


A  HISTORY  OF  CONNECTICUT 


A  History  of  Connecticut 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  PREHISTORIC  PERIOD 

CONNECTICUT  extends  on  Long  Island  Sound  a 
hiindred  miles,  rises  to  an  average  height  of  a  thou- 
sand feet  at  its  northern  line,  and  in  the  case  of  Bear  Moun- 
tain in  Salisbury,  to  the  extreme  height  of  two  thousand 
three  himdred  and  fifty-four  feet.  The  eastern  boundary  is 
forty-five  and  the  western  seventy- two  miles  in  extent,  and 
within  these  modest  limits  lies  one  of  the  original  thirteen 
colonies,  busy,  thrifty,  inventive,  and  conservative.  It  is  on 
the  turnpike  between  empire  states, — sharp  for  the  best  trade, 
keen  for  the  main  chance,  laughed  at  for  its  steady  habits, 
wooden  nutmegs,  peddlers,  and  Blue  Laws;  leaned  on  in 
times  of  national  peril ;  sought  by  tired  nerves  for  its  lovely 
valleys,  whispering  brooks,  and  radiant  lakes.  The  eastern 
counties  are  sandy,  stony,  sometimes  rocky  and  wild,  but 
beautiful.  The  western  parts  are  famous  for  their  noble 
mountains,  picturesque  lakes,  and  entrancing  scenery.  The 
three  main  rivers  and  the  streams  which  flow  into  them  once 
abounded  with  salmon,  shad,  and  trout.  These  streams  are 
still  beautiful,  and  are  useful  for  steamboats,  tugs,  sailboats, 
power-boats,  and  for  turning  wheels  to  manufacture  every- 
thing from  a  jackknife  to  an  automobile.  Varied  is  the  wealth 
of  Connecticut — forests,  mountains,  orchards,  and  meadows — 


2  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

and  in  their  season  there  abound  sweet  and  blushing  peaches, 
spicy  apples,  delicious  grapes,  mammoth  strawberries,  the 
lowly  potato,  the  rank  tobacco,  the  crisp  celery,  the  royal 
Indian  com,  the  courtly  rye,  and  the  graceful  herd's  grass. 

Searching  for  the  foundation  of  this  park-like  state,  we 
see  beneath  all  else  the  ancient  rocks — granite,  quartz,  feld- 
spar, found  in  abundance  in  the  eastern  and  western  counties, 
and  sometimes  cropping  out  elsewhere.  Midway,  the  high- 
lands sink  into  a  wide  trough,  in  which  are  rocks  of  a 
later  date,  showing  that  a  muddy  valley  once  ran  through 
the  state  into  Massachusetts,  and  that  over  it  saimtered 
in  lazy  promenade,  or  leaped  in  himgry  pursuit  of  prey, 
huge  reptiles  and  the  terrible  mastodon ;  some  of  those  foot- 
prints used  to  be  called  "Connecticut  River  bird- tracks," 
but  it  is  now  known  that  birds  did  not  appear  at  that  early 
period,  and  that  the  animals  must  have  been  reptiles.  An 
interesting  example  of  the  monsters  in  Connecticut  thou- 
sands of  years  ago  was  foimd  in  Farmington  in  August, 
191 3>  by  workmen  digging  on  the  shore  of  an  ancient  lake, 
whose  mud  bottom  rests  on  glacial  rock.  It  is  a  skeleton 
of  a  mastodon,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  eleven 
feet  high  and  to  have  weighed  about  eight  tons.  Upon  that 
weird  scene  a  volcano  rolled  its  molten  lava,  spreading 
over  the  beds  of  mud,  hardening  it  into  rock,  after  which 
there  succeeded  a  long  era  of  peace,  with  busy  streams 
pouring  in  their  tribute  of  sand  and  gravel.  Then  there 
occurred  another  volcanic  outburst,  and  later  still  another, 
for  there  are  in  central  Connecticut  three  sheets  ©f  volcanic 
trap,  and  sandwiched  between  them  are  beds  of  sand,  clay, 
and  gravel,  long  since  hardened  into  rocks  known  as  shale, 
sandstone,  and  conglomerate.  The  three  fiery  torrents 
killed  the  animals,  preserving  many  of  their  tracks.  Long 
after  the  rocks  were  laid,  and  the  last  lava  stiffened,  there 
were  powerful  earthquakes,  which  tilted  the  rocks.  The 
latter,  through  the  weathering  of  the  ages,  form  the  moimtains 
we  call  Talcott,  Hanging  Hills  of  Meriden,  Lamentation, 


THe  PreHistoric  Period  3 

Three  Notches,  and  Pond  Rock,  in  the  long  range  from 
Mount  Tom  to  the  Sound. 

Then  came  the  Glacial  Age,  whose  vast  sheet  covered 
the  land  and  moved  heavily  down  mountain  and  hill,  carry- 
ing bowlders  for  miles,  grinding  the  surface  of  the  rocks, 
leaving  piles  of  sand  here  and  there.  All  the  rocks  of  the 
state  show  the  results  of  the  Glacial  Age,  but  the  clearest 
markings  are  in  the  trap  ridges  of  the  central  parts,  wherever 
the  trap  comes  to  the  surface.  The  broken  material  torn 
off  by  the  ice  is  found  in  the  gravelly  soil  of  the  cultivated 
land,  in  the  hills  of  gravel,  and  in  the  sandy  bluffs  along  the 
rivers.  Long  Island  is  probably  a  terminal  moraine,  and 
Saybrook  rests  on  a  glacial  sand  plain,  as  does  the  town  of 
Essex,  and  a  part  of  Norwich.  In  the  central  part  of  the 
state,  the  drift  is  mostly  of  trap,  sandstone,  or  shale,  but  in 
the  eastern  and  western  sections  the  light-colored  crystalline 
rocks  and  gravels  are  seen. 

The  central  valley,  about  twenty  miles  in  width,  is  drained 
by  the  Connecticut  as  far  south  as  Middletown,  where 
the  stream  forces  its  way  between  two  moiintains,  leaving  the 
valley  to  reach  the  Sound  at  New  Haven.  This  valley, 
the  home  of  the  first  settlers,  is  of  a  deep,  rich  loam,  until  the 
river  leaves  it,  after  which  it  is  sandy.  The  more  broken 
country,  often  rugged  and  grand,  in  the  eastern  and  western 
parts  is  less  favorable  for  agriculture  than  are  the  central 
parts,  but  the  rivers  are  powerful  sources  of  wealth. 

Connecticut  is  well  supplied  with  clay  for  bricks  in  New- 
ington,  Windsor,  North  Haven,  and  elsewhere;  its  granite 
quarries  are  many  and  inexhaustible,  its  sandstone  measures 
at  Portland  abundant,  and  its  iron  mines  at  Salisbury  of 
great  value,  especially  where  toughness  is  required.  It  was 
a  long,  stiff  discipline  through  which  Connecticut  passed  to 
prepare  for  the  coming  days;  she  was  wrenched,  twisted, 
racked,  poimded,  frozen,  washed  and  burned,  but  at  length 
the  sturdy  foundation  was  laid  for  a  resolute  people  and  a 
vigorous  history. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  SETTLEMENT 

IT  is  well  that  this  singularly  favored  tract  with  its  varied 
wealth  of  building  materials,  soil,  rivers,  and  harbors 
stayed  in  obscurity  so  long,  until  the  seed  of  a  highly  developed 
civilization  could  be  winnowed  out  of  the  gloomy  and  weari- 
some life  of  Europe.  It  was  in  1614,  that  the  clear  waters 
of  the  Connecticut  were  first  traversed  by  a  keel  steered 
by  a  pale-faced  mariner.  The  first  European  visitor  to 
Connecticut  was  the  Dutch  navigator,  Adrian  Blok,  who,  on 
his  way  through  the  Sound  in  his  American-built  yacht,  the 
Restless,  explored  for  sixty  miles  the  river,  which  the  Indians 
called  "Quaneh-ta-cut,"  the  long  tidal  river.  It  was  spring- 
time, and  forest  and  meadow  were  charming  to  the  keen 
mariner;  few  signs  of  life  were  seen  imtil  he  reached  Middle- 
town,  where  the  Indians  were  numerous,  and  he  learned 
that  they  were  of  the  nation  called  Sequins;  near  Hartford 
he  came  to  the  country  of  the  Nawaas,  where  "the  natives 
plant  maize,"  and  their  village  was  fortified  to  withstand 
the  Pequots.  Landing  there,  Blok  parleyed  with  the 
Indians,  and  learned  that  natives  from  the  upper  parts  of 
the  river  brought  rich  peltry  in  bark  canoes.  Then  he 
sailed  up-stream  as  far  as  Enfield  Rapids,  where  he  turned 
and  went  down  to  the  Sound ;  thence  he  continued  eastward, 
taking  note  of  the  Thames  and  Montauk;  explored  Narra- 
gansett  Bay,  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  Nantucket;  named 
Rhode  Island  the  Red  Island,  from  the  color  of  the  soil; 

4 


The  Perched  Glacial  Bowlder  at  Taftville,  Connecticut 

Reproduced  from  The  Connecticut  Quarterly,  vol.  iv..  No.  3.      (By  permission) 


Glacial  Striae,  Summit  Street,  Hartford,  Connecticut 

Reproduced  from  The  Connecticut  Quarterly  vol.  iv.,  No.  3.      (By  permission) 


XKe  Settlement  S 

glanced  at  Plymouth  Rock,  and  entering  Massachusetts 
Bay,  went  as  far  as  Nahant.  On  his  way  back  he  fell  in 
with  another  Dutch  captain,  Christaensen,  in  the  Fortune, 
and  turning  over  his  vessel  to  another,  Blok  sailed  for 
Holland,  where  so  much  interest  was  awakened  that  the 
Amsterdam  Trading  Company  was  formed;  a  map  was 
made  from  Blok's  data,  and  the  whole  matter  was  laid  before 
the  States- General,  which  gave  the  company  a  charter,  and 
exclusive  right  to  trade  for  four  voyages  during  three  years. 

Under  that  charter  of  1 614,  Dutch  ships  were  soon  sailing 
up  and  down  the  river,  trading  with  the  Indians,  and  for 
nearly  eighteen  years  Amsterdam  vessels  were  on  the  Con- 
necticut, which  was  unknown  to  the  English  until  a  Dutch 
captain  from  Manhattan,  seeing  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth 
"seated  in  a  barren  quarter,"  shortsightedly  told  them  of 
the  rich  valley  Blok  had  discovered;  said  that  it  was  a  "fine 
place  for  plantation  and  trade,"  and  wished  them  to  make 
use  of  it.  This  was  in  1627,  and,  the  hands  of  the  Pilgrims 
being  full,  the  acceptance  of  the  invitation  was  deferred  for 
six  years.  In  1631,  some  Mohican  Indians  visited  Plymouth 
and  urged  the  settlers  to  go  to  Connecticut,  extolling  it  as 
a  good  place  for  plantation  and  trade;  they  wished  to  gain 
the  help  of  the  English  in  behalf  of  their  chief,  the  able  and 
unscrupulous  Uncas,  who  was  seeking  the  headship  of  the 
Pequots. 

Moved  by  these  persuasions,  in  1632,  Edward  Winslow 
went  in  a  boat  to  the  river,  confirmed  the  statements  of 
Dutch  and  Indians,  and  on  his  return  went  with  Bradford 
to  Boston  to  discuss  a  plan  for  a  joint  trading-post,  but  they 
received  no  encouragement.  In  September,  1633,  ^  vessel 
was  sent  from  Boston  into  the  Connecticut,  and  John  Old- 
ham with  three  others  set  out  from  Watertown  overland 
to  explore  the  river.  Plymouth  waited  no  longer,  but 
equipped  "a  great  new  bark,"  in  the  hold  of  which  was  the 
frame  of  a  house,  with  "boards  to  cover  and  finish  it,"  and 
sent  it  forth  under  command  of  Captain  William  Holmes. 


6  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

When  they  reached  the  Connecticut,  they  were  surprised 
to  find  the  Dutch  at  Hartford  in  possession  of  a  fort,  on 
which  were  mounted  two  cannon.  In  the  previous  June, 
the  Dutch  bought  of  the  Indians  twenty  acres,  and  called 
their  fort  the  "House  of  Hope,"  on  reaching  which  Holmes 
heard  the  drum-beats  and  saw  the  cannoneers  beside  the 
guns  with  lighted  torches,  under  the  banner  of  the  Nether- 
lands. The  commander,  Jacob  van  Curler,  bade  Holmes 
"strike  and  stay,"  but  the  Plymouth  captain  appealed  to 
his  commission  and  went  on.  No  shot  was  fired,  and  on 
reaching  the  point  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Farmington 
River  September  26,  1633,  they  landed,  quickly  "clapt 
up"  the  house  and  soon  had  a  palisade  around  it  to  protect 
against  the  Dutch  and  the  far  more  dangerous  Pequots. 

The  Dutch  in  the  House  of  Hope  found  their  English 
neighbors  disagreeable,  but  they  stayed  in  their  meager 
stronghold  till  1654,  i^  almost  constant  broils,  their  land 
invaded,  workmen  harassed,  and  claims  challenged.  They 
were  "disgusted  with  a  post  so  constantly  insulted,"  the 
English  denying  the  right  of  the  Dutch  to  any  land  about 
the  fort.  Facing  the  question  of  Governor  Hopkins,  "Show 
your  right  and  we  are  ready  to  exhibit  ours,"  there  was  only 
one  thing  to  do  since  the  English  were  becoming  so  numerous. 
In  1636,  the  English  secured  deeds  from  Sequasson,  the  son 
of  Soheag,  "lord  and  rightful  owner  of  the  entire  river  and 
land  thereabouts,"  and  he  testified  in  the  Hartford  Court 
that  "he  never  sold  any  ground  to  the  Dutch."  A  little 
later,  the  colony  procured  from  Uncas,  who,  after  the  Pequot 
overthrow,  was  the  all-powerful  Mohican  sagamore,  "a 
clear  and  ample  deed  of  all  the  lands  in  Connecticut,  except 
the  lands  that  were  planted."  The  purchase  money  was  in 
wampum,  shoes,  and  trading-cloth.  Boundaries  were  in- 
definite, especially  when  a  distance  was  described  as  far  as 
"one  day's  walk,"  and  Connecticut  carried  out  the  advice 
of  Sir  William  Boswell,  English  ambassador  at  The  Hague,  to 
"crowd  on,  crowding  the  Dutch  out  of  those  places  which 


XKe  Settlement  7 

they  have  occupied,  without  hostility  or  any  act  of  violence." 
Soon  English  and  Dutch  farmers  came  to  blows;  Evert 
Duyckink,  a  garrison  man,  while  sowing  grain  was  hit  "a 
hole  in  his  head  with  a  sticke,  so  that  the  bloode  ran  downe 
very  strongly,  downe  upon  his  body."  Groimd  which 
the  Dutch  had  made  ready  for  seed  was  seized  in  the  night 
and  planted  with  com  by  the  EngHsh,  and  then  held  by 
them.  At  length,  after  coimtless  irritations,  retaliations, 
and  negotiations,  the  English  cold  shoulder  proved  so  stiff, 
and  the  English  disposition  so  freezing,  that  in  the  April 
session  of  1654,  ^^e  Court  at  Hartford  "ordered  and  declared 
that  the  Dutch  Howse  of  Hope,  with  the  lands,  buildings 
and  fences  thereto  belonging  bee  hereby  sequestered." 
Captain  John  Underbill  posted  this  notice  on  the  doors  of 
the  House  of  Hope,  "I,  John  Underbill,  do  seize  this  house 
and  land  for  the  State  of  England,  by  virtue  of  the  commis- 
sion granted  by  the  Providence  Plantation."  The  Dutch 
were  glad  to  leave  a  place  which  had  become  so  uncomfort- 
able, and  long  ago  the  river  wore  away  the  last  vestige  of 
the  fort,  of  which  the  only  relic  remaining  is  a  tired-looking 
yellow  Holland  brick  with  the  halves  of  two  others,  which 
are  now  among  the  relics  of  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society  at  Hartford. 

We  must  now  go  back  to  the  story  of  the  settlers  from 
Boston  Bay.  The  people  of  Watertown,  Dorchester,  and 
Newtown  (Cambridge)  were  growing  restless  under  the 
Massachusetts  authority,  and  the  lure  of  Connecticut  ap- 
pealed strongly.  The  master  mind  of  this  migration  was 
Thomas  Hooker,  a  man  of  majestic  presence  and  powerful 
intellect,  who  had  graduated  at  Cambridge  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two,  and  continued  for  a  time  in  residence  as  a  lec- 
turer, at  a  time  when  Laud  was  advancing  to  become  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  the  policy  of  "thorough"  was 
developing.  Hooker's  disposition  is  seen  in  his  imwilling- 
ness  to  accept  a  living,  for  which  he  would  come  under 
obligations  to  a  bishop,  and  as  an  alternative  he  accepted  a 


8  j\  History  of  Connecticut 

living  of  forty  pounds,  the  gift  of  Francis  Drake.  Soon 
afterward  he  was  appointed  to  a  lectureship,  a  method  of 
reaching  the  people  when  preaching  fell  into  disuse.  Laud 
said  that  lecturers  were  "the  people's  creatures"  and  "blew 
the  bellows  of  sedition."  Hooker's  influence  appears  in  a 
letter  written  to  Laud's  chancellor  by  a  minister  who  said, 
"His  genius  will  still  haunt  all  the  pulpits  where  any  of  his 
scholars  may  be  admitted  to  preach.  There  be  divers  young 
ministers  about  us  that  spend  their  time  in  conference  with 
him,  and  return  home  and  preach  what  he  hath  brewed. 
Our  people's  pallets  grow  so  out  of  tast,  yt  noe  food  contents 
them  but  of  Mr.  Hooker's  dressing,"  The  lectures  were 
delivered  on  the  market-days  and  Sunday  afternoons,  and 
on  one  occasion  in  the  presence  of  the  judges  and  before  a 
large  congregation,  he  "declared  freely  the  sins  of  England, 
and  the  plagues  that  would  come"  for  such  sins.  Mather 
quotes  one  as  saying  of  him  that  "he  was  a  person,  who 
while  doing  his  Master's  work  would  put  a  king  in  his 
pocket." 

In  1629,  Laud  turned  his  attention  to  the  lectiirers,  and 
among  the  first  to  feel  the  weight  of  his  heavy  hand  was 
Thomas  Hooker  of  Chelmsford,  who  was  compelled  to  retire 
to  a  village  four  miles  away,  where  he  taught  school  in  his 
house,  and  the  next  year  he  was  cited  to  appear  before  the 
High  Commission,  but  he  escaped  arrest,  he  went  to 
Holland  and,  in  1633,  we  find  him  in  Boston.  Hooker's 
sister  was  wife  of  John  Pym,  who  pleaded  for  the  restoration 
of  the  Puritan  clergy,  but  the  opposition  was  too  strong  and 
Laud's  influence  was  growing.  The  voyage  was  of  eight 
weeks'  duration,  and  the  conversations  must  have  been 
interesting,  for  besides  Hooker  was  Samuel  Stone,  a  lecturer, 
and  later  associate  pastor  with  Hooker,  and  also  John  Cotton 
and  John  Haynes.  Cotton  stayed  in  Boston,  while  Hooker 
and  Stone  went  to  Cambridge.  On  October  11,  1633, 
Hooker  was  chosen  pastor  and  Stone  teacher,  and  Hubbard 
says  that  "after  Mr.  Hooker's  coming  over,  it  was  noticed 


■Ml 


m 


XHe  Settlement  9 

that  many  of  the  freemen  grew  to  be  very  jealous  of  their 
liberties."  Cambridge  was  prospering  with  its  hundred 
families;  its  tax  was  as  large  as  that  of  Boston,  and  John 
Haynes  was  chosen  governor  in  1635,  but  an  uneasiness 
arose.  The  town  "complained  of  straitness  for  want  of 
land,  especially  meadow."  Enlargements  were  granted  to 
include  what,  is  now  Brighton,  Brookline,  Newton,  and 
Arlington,  but  the  uneasiness  continued.  Hubbard,  who 
lived  within  fifty  years  of  these  events,  says  that  other  motives 
did  "more  secretly  and  powerfully  drive  on  the  business. 
Two  such  eminent  stars  as  were  Mr.  Cotton  and  Mr.  Hooker, 
both  of  the  first  magnitude,  could  not  continue  in  one  and 
the  same  orb."  In  a  letter  written  to  John  Wilson,  a  writer 
says  that  he  heard  "that  ther  is  great  diusion  of  judgment 
in  matters  of  religion  amongst  good  ministers  and  people 
which  moued  Mr.  Hoker  to  remoue."  He  also  wrote: 
"  You  are  so  strict  in  admission  of  members  to  your  church, 
that  more  than  half  are  out  of  your  church  .  .  .  and  that 
Mr.  Hoker,  befor  he  went  away,  preached  against  yt."  John 
Winthrop,  the  grave,  scholarly  and  deeply  religious  Moses 
of  the  Puritan  migration  to  America,  found  John  Cotton, 
his  gifted  minister,  an  able  yoke-fellow  in  the  position  that  it 
would  be  calamitous  to  allow  any  one  who  was  not  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church  to  vote  or  hold  office. 
This  combination  of  the  aristocratic  and  the  political  was 
not  popular  in  some  of  the  towns.  Samuel  Stone  said  it  was 
a  "speaking  aristocracy  in  the  face  of  a  silent  democracy." 

The  number  of  freemen  had  increased  so  rapidly  that  in 
1630,  they  could  not  all  meet  in  one  place  to  transact  busi- 
ness, and  a  board  of  assistants  was  appointed  to  choose  the 
governor  and  make  laws,  and  in  May,  1631,  it  was  further 
decided  that  the  assistants  need  not  be  chosen  every  year, 
but  might  keep  their  seats  during  good  behavior,  or  until 
set  aside  by  the  vote  of  the  freemen.  This  was  not  agree- 
able to  Cambridge,  Watertown  and  Dorchester,  and  they 
sent  a  deputation  to  Boston  to  inspect  the  charter,  to  see 


lo  A  History  of  Connecticut 

if  such  power  was  authorized  by  it.  The  method  of  electing 
assistants  was  changed,  but  Cotton  was  ever  strenuous  in  a 
position,  in  which  he  had  with  him  a  majority  of  the  ministers, 
that  democracy  was  no  fit  government  either  for  church  or 
commonwealth.  Chief  in  opposition  was  Hooker,  who 
maintained  against  the  proposition  that  "the  best  part  is 
always  the  least,  and  of  the  best  part  the  wiser  is  always  the 
lesser,"  that  "in  matters  of  greater  consequence,  which 
concern  the  common  Good  a  General  Council,  chosen  by  all 
to  transact  businesses  which  concern  all,  I  conceive,  under 
favor  most  suitable  to  rule,  and  most  safe  for  relief  of  the 
whole." 

It  appears  thus  that  the  motives  leading  to  the  migra- 
tion were  political,  democratic,  and  commercial,  for  there 
were  many  who  preferred  a  more  popular  basis  for  the  govern- 
ment than  that  which  prevailed  at  Boston  Bay,  where  the 
right  to  vote  was  so  strictly  guarded  that  only  one  man  in 
six  had  suffrage.  Land  hunger  also  impelled  many,  not  so 
much  through  lack  of  pasturage,  of  which  there  was  suffi- 
cient in  eastern  Massachusetts,  but  the  fertility  of  the 
Connecticut  valley  appealed  strongly  to  the  enterprising. 
Although  theoretically  there  was  scanty  place  for  freedom  in 
Massachusetts,  especially  for  extremists  like  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
son, Roger  Williams,  and  the  Quakers,  the  actual  condition 
was  not  as  trying  as  one  might  think  for  most  people,  because 
of  the  sturdy  common  sense  of  the  settlers,  who  demanded 
much  liberty  of  discussion.  The  towns  of  Cambridge,  Water- 
town,  and  Dorchester  (together  with  Roxbury,  which  settled 
Springfield)  developed  a  more  energetic  local  self-govern- 
ment than  elsewhere,  and  in  1631 ,  Dorchester  and  Watertown 
led  the  way  in  organizing  town  government  by  selectmen. 
In  that  year  a  tax  of  sixty  pounds  was  assessed  upon  the 
settlements  to  pay  for  building  frontier  fortifications  in 
Cambridge,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Watertown  at  first 
declined  to  pay  their  share  of  this  tax,  on  the  ground  that 
EngUsh  freemen  cannot  rightfully  be  taxed,  save  by  their 


XHe  Settlement  II 

consent,  a  protest  which  led  to  a  change  in  the  constitution 
of  the  colony.  In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  not  strange  that 
in  May,  1634,  ^^e  congregation  at  Cambridge  petitioned 
the  General  Court  for  permission  to  move  to  some  other 
quarter  within  Massachusetts.  The  petition  was  granted, 
and  messengers  were  sent  to  Ipswich  and  Merrimac  to 
look  for  a  location,  but  after  the  invitation  of  the  Indians 
on  the  Connecticut,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  Court 
in  September  for  leave  to  go  outside  Massachusetts,  and  it 
was  rejected  by  the  assistants,  though  the  deputies  favored 
it.  In  the  spring  of  1635,  some  of  the  Watertown  and  Dor- 
chester people  were  more  successful  with  their  application, 
and  it  was  voted  to  allow  them  to  go,  provided  that  they 
continued  under  the  Massachusetts  authority. 

We  have  given  an  account  of  the  building  of  a  trading  house 
at  Windsor  in  September,  1633;  in  the  autumn  of  1634,  ten 
householders  and  planters,  called  "Adventurers,"  including 
the  venturesome  and  trying  pioneer,  John  Oldham,  settled 
at  Pyquag,  or  Wethersfield ;  building  huts  they  broke 
the  land  and  sowed  some  rye,  thus  starting  agricultural  life 
on  the  Connecticut,  and  during  the  following  May  about 
thirty  more  took  up  land  there.  In  1635,  Windsor  received 
the  first  installment  from  Dorchester,  and  a  company  direct 
from  England.  In  October,  some  sixty  men,  women,  and 
children,  driving  before  them  cows,  horses,  and  swine,  set 
out  by  land  and  reached  the  Connecticut  "after  a  tedious 
and  difficult  journey,"  but  the  river  froze  over  by  November 
15,  and  the  vessel  that  carried  provisions  for  the  winter 
for  the  colonists  was  stayed  at  Saybrook.  Fearing  starva- 
tion, most  of  the  settlers  went  to  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
loosened  a  sloop  from  the  ice,  and  returned  to  Boston. 
When  the  spring  came  many  Cambridge  people  sold  their 
lands  on  the  Charles  River,  and  in  June,  1636,  a  large 
number  of  people  took  the  "old  Connecticut  path,"  through 
Waltham,  Framingham,  Dudley,  and  Woodstock,  the  path 
over    which    Oldham    went    three  years   before,    "lodging 


12  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

in  Indian  towns  all  the  way."  It  was  not  an  imposing- 
looking  procession :  men,  women,  and  children  '  on  foot, 
though,  because  of  ill  health,  Mrs.  Hooker  was  carried  in  a 
litter;  the  only  band  of  music  that  attended  it  was  the 
lowing  of  a  hundred  and  sixty  cattle  and  the  squealing  of 
the  pigs;  but  the  presence  of  Hooker,  Haynes,  Stone,  and 
Bull  gave  dignity  to  this  movement  of  American  democracy. 
Through  the  summer  of  1636,  people  traveled  to  Connecti- 
cut, and  almost  daily  a  few  would  take  up  land  and  build 
their  houses.  Fever  for  change  also  seized  some  of  the 
Roxbury  people,  and  Agawam,  or  Springfield,  was  settled 
by  a  company  of  people  under  the  leadership  of  William 
Pynchon. 

The  site  of  Hartford  was  deeded  by  Sachem  Sequasson  to 
Samuel  Stone,  William  Goodwin  and  others,  and  while  the 
original  deed  of  1636,  was  lost,  a  deed  confirming  the  first 
and  extending  the  original  grant  westward,  executed  by  the 
heirs  of  Sequasson,  is  recorded  in  the  Hartford  Land  Records. 
The  settlers  were  known  as  proprietors,  and  to  every  one  were 
allotted  a  house  lot,  a  piece  of  meadow  land  and  a  wood  lot; 
the  remainder  of  the  land  was  called  the  Town  Commons. 
These  lots  were  not  recorded  until  October  10,  1639,  when 
the  General  Court  ordered  that  the  three  towns  should 
provide  a  "ledger  Booke,  with  an  index  or  alphabett  unto 
the  same :  Also  shall  choose  one  who  shall  be  a  Towne  Gierke 
or  Register,  who  shall  .  .  .  record  every  man's  house  and 
land  already  graunted  and  measured  out  to  him."  This 
book,  known  as  the  Book  of  Distribution,  is  the  first  book  of 
land  records  in  the  town  clerk's  office  in  Hartford.  Here  is 
a  sample  entry:  "Severall  parsilles  of  land  in  Hartford  upon 
the  River  of  Coneckticott  belonging  to  John  Steele,  Sinor, 
and  to  his  heirs  forever.  Viz :  One  parsill  on  which  his  now 
dwelling  house  standeth  with  other  outt  houses,  yardes  and 
gardins."  The  name  of  Hartford  at  first  was  Newe  Towne, 
but  within  a  year  it  was  changed,  since  Stone  and  many 
other  settlers  were  from  Hertford,  England,  and  the  capital 


THe  Settlement  13 

of  Connecticut  was  called  "Harteford  Towne.  And  like- 
wise the  plantacon  nowe  called  Watertowne  shall  be  called 
Wythersfield,  and  the  plantacon  called  Dorchester  shall  be 
called  Windsor."  There  are  two  landmarks  remaining 
from  the  earliest  times:  the  graveyard  back  of  the  First 
Church,  where  many  of  the  famous  settlers  were  buried, 
and  the  well  of  Thomas  Hooker,  still  in  use  in  a  foundry  on 
Arch  Street. 

The  coming  of  the  Dorchester  people  to  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Plymouth  fort  at  Windsor  gave  the  Pilgrims  there  no 
little  uneasiness  in  the  spring  of  1635,  and  Jonathan  Brew- 
ster, in  a  letter  from  the  fort  in  July,  tells  of  the  daily  arrival 
by  land  and  water  of  small  parties  of  settlers.  At  length 
these  newcomers,  headed  by  Roger  Ludlow,  one  of  the  ablest 
and  richest  men  in  Massachusetts,  claiming  that  the  land 
was  theirs  as  the  "Lord's  waste"  by  "the  Providence  of 
God,"  moved  into  the  midst  of  the  Plymouth  people,  who 
protested  against  the  Dorchester  settlement  on  the  Plymouth 
Great  Meadow.  As  the  Plymouth  men  had  ignored  the 
claims  of  the  Dutch,  so  now  the  Dorchester  people  ignored 
the  Pilgrim  claims  to  the  property,  and  proposed  to  allow  the 
Plymouth  people  only  one  share,  "as  to  a  single  family." 
A  protest  against  the  Dorchester  intrusion  was  reported 
by  Brewster  at  Plymouth,  and  Bradford  entered  his  objec- 
tion, contending  that  it  was  an  attempt  to  "thrust  them  all 
out."  Winslow  went  from  Plymouth  to  Boston  and  had  a 
fruitless  conference  with  the  Dorchester  leaders.  The 
negotiations  with  the  Bay  magistrates  came  to  nothing. 
"Many  were  the  letters  and  passages"  that  were  indulged 
in  by  the  sturdy  combatants.  Pious  phrases  and  greedy 
purposes  furnish  interesting  reading.  Both  appealed  to 
God's  good  providence,  and  while  Plymouth  had  the  better 
argument,  Dorchester  had  the  greater  power.  The  Ply- 
mouth men  would  not  resort  to  arms,  as  it  was  "far  from 
their  thoughts  to  live  in  continual  contention  with  their 
friends  and  brethren,  though  they  conceived  that  they  suf- 


14  -A  History  of  Connecticut 

fered  much  in  the  thing";  accordingly  they  entered  into  a 
treaty,  insisting  only  that  the  Dorchester  people  should 
acknowledge  their  rights  to  the  territory.  "After  much 
ado,"  the  Plymouth  house  was  retained  by  the  Plymouth 
men  with  a  sixteenth  of  all  the  land  bought  of  the  Indians, 
and  the  project  of  abandoning  the  "barren  place"  on 
Plymouth  sands  was  given  up. 

While  these  settlements  were  forming  on  the  river, 
steps  were  being  taken  to  secure  the  mouth  of  it.  There 
arrived  at  Boston  on  October  5, 1635,  the  ship  Abigail,  bring- 
ing among  her  passengers  three  men  of  note,  representing 
the  Lords  and  Gentlemen.  These  were  John  Winthrop,  Jr., 
Sir  Harry  Vane,  and  Rev.  Hugh  Peters.  Winthrop  bore 
a  commission  from  the  Lords  and  Gentlemen,  dated  July 
15,  1635,  and  this  commission  named  the  bearer  "Governor 
of  the  River  Connecticut,  with  the  places  adjoining  there 
unto,  for  and  during  the  space  of  one  whole  year,  after  the 
arrival  there,"  with  "full  power  to  do  and  execute  any  such 
lawful  thing  ...  as  to  the  dignity  or  office  of  a  governor 
doth  or  may  appertain."  Learning  that  the  Dutch  were 
bent  on  gaining  the  same  place,  twenty  men  went  to  the 
river  and  soon  a  fort  was  erected  by  Lyon  Gardener,  an 
expert  military  engineer^  who  had  seen  service  in  the  Nether- 
lands, near  the  point  where  Hans  den  Sluys  had  affixed  the 
Dutch  arms  to  a  tree  two  years  before.  Hardly  had  the 
English  mounted  two  cannon,  when  a  Dutch  vessel  appeared, 
but  finding  the  place  occupied  it  returned  to  New  Amster- 
dam. Winthrop  was  a  superb  leader  of  an  enterprise  which 
was  designed  to  establish  a  home  for  some  of  the  English 
gentry  and  plain  folks  after  the  persecution  of  the  Puritans 
by  the  royal  government  had  reached  its  height.  Gardener 
was  an  able  officer  and  skillful  in  laying  out  the  town.  He 
was  just  in  his  dealings  with  the  Indians,  whose  prowess  he 
did  not  slight,  and  whose  cruelty  he  imderstood.  When 
some  Bay  men  spoke  lightly  of  the  Indian  arrows,  Gardener 
sent  them  a  dead  man's  rib,  with  an  arrowhead,  which  had 


John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  of  New  London,  1606-1676;  Governor  1657-1676, 
with  the  Exception  of  1658 

From  a  Painting  by  George  F.  Wright  of  Hartford,  in  Memorial  Hall  Connecticut  State  Capitol 


XHe  Settlement  15 

gone  through  the  body,  and  stuck  so  fast  that  no  one  could 
draw  it  out.  An  effort  was  made  to  persuade  the  EngHsh 
up  river  to  acknowledge  Governor  Winthrop  of  Saybrook, 
and  though  the  appeal  was  skillfully  and  courteously  made, 
the  "loving  resolutions,"  which  the  politicians  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  longed  for,  never  floated  down  stream,  the 
question  being  adroitly  evaded  or  quietly  ignored.  The 
Hooker  and  Haynes  contingent  "carved  largely  for  them- 
selves." George  Fen  wick  went  to  Saybrook  in  the  summer 
of  1635,  while  Winthrop  was  in  control,  and  three  years 
later  he  returned  with  more  parade,  two  vessels,  and  wife 
and  family.  His  home  on  Saybrook  Point  was  described, 
in  1 64 1,  as  a  "faire  house"  well  fortified.  With  the  Fen- 
wicks  was  John  Higginson,  a  young  minister  who  was 
chaplain,  and  after  his  death  at  ninety-three,  his  eulogist 
sang: 

Young  to  the  pulpit  he  did  get, 

And  seventy-two  years  in  't  did  sweat. 

Fenwick  maintained  his  independent  state  till  the  end  of 
1644,  when  he  ceded  his  possessions  to  the  up-river  colony, 
with  the  jurisdiction  of  all  the  territory  claimed  under  the 
Lords  and  Gentlemen's  patent,  on  condition  of  a  tribute  for 
ten  years  of  certain  duties  on  corn,  biscuit,  beaver-skins,  and 
live  stock  exported  from  the  river,  and  while  the  carrying 
out  of  this  agreement  brought  Connecticut  into  conflict 
with  Massachusetts  over  the  question  of  taxing  Springfield, 
the  question  was  decided  by  the  commissioners  of  the  colonies 
in  favor  of  Connecticut,  which  continued  the  tax  for  ten 
years. 

In  1643,  Winthrop  was  admitted  to  the  first  conference 
to  form  the  New  England  Union,  and  as  that  body  recognized 
only  four  colonies,  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
and  New  Haven,  Connecticut  wisely  appointed  him  one 
of  her  commissioners  in  1643,  and  1644,  with  Edward  Hop- 
kins as  the  other.     Fenwick  was  as  closely  identified  with 


l6  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

Connecticut  as  he  could  be,  and  he  rendered  an  important 
service  to  Connecticut,  when  Massachusetts  laid  claim  to 
the  Pequot  country  after  the  war  with  the  Indians.  He 
interposed  a  protest  against  any  decision  in  1644,  which 
would  impeach  his  principal's  title,  and  thus  gained  time 
for  the  Connecticut  Colony  to  secure  a  stronger  hold  on  the 
conquered  lands;  with  the  conclusion  of  the  agreement 
of  1644,  Saybrook  became  a  Connecticut  township. 


CHAPTER  III 
SETTLEMENT  CONCLUDED 

FIVE  years  after  the  colonists  began  to  build  their  log 
houses  on  the  Connecticut,  another  settlement  started 
on  the  Sound  at  Quinnipiac,  or  New  Haven,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Theophilus  Eaton,  Edward  Hopkins,  John  Daven- 
port, and  several  other  well-to-do  and  most  serious  men. 
Massachusetts  authorities  made  every  effort  to  persuade 
these  desirable  emigrants  to  tarry  there;  Charlestown  mak- 
ing them  large  offers,  and  Newbury  proposing  to  give  up 
the  whole  town  to  them;  the  General  Court  promising  them 
any  place  they  might  choose.  But  this  friendliness  did 
not  persuade  them,  and  after  a  stay  of  nine  months,  they 
chose  to  have  a  colony  after  their  own  ideas.  Resulting 
from  the  Pequot  war  was  the  discovery  of  land  west  of  Say- 
brook,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1637,  Theophilus  Eaton  and 
others  explored  the  region;  so  well  pleased  were  they 
that  in  March,  1638,  a  company  settled  at  New  Haven, 
and  on  April  18,  they  kept  their  first  Simday  there, 
gathering  imder  an  oak  to  listen  to  John  Davenport,  their 
minister. 

A  leading  reason  for  the  settlement  was  to  be  away  from 
the  general  government  of  New  England  should  there  be 
any,  and  also  because  there  were  so  many  able  men  in  office 
in  Massachusetts  that  newcomers  had  scanty  opportunity 
to  build  a  state  after  their  own  ideas.  On  reaching  New 
Haven,  the  wealthy  leaders,  accustomed  to  elegant  houses 
2  17 


l8  j\  History  of  Cotinecticxit 

in  London,  put  up  elaborate  homes;  Governor  Eaton  built 
one  on  Elm  Street,  large  enough  to  contain  nineteen  fire- 
places, and  Davenport's  opposite  is  said  to  have  had  thirteen 
fireplaces. 

Determined  to  establish  the  colony  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  a  meeting  was  called  soon  after  the  arrival,  and 
at  the  close  of  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  they  made  a 
"Plantation  Covenant,"  in  which  they  solemnly  boiuid 
themselves  "that,  as  in  matters  that  concern  the  gathering 
and  ordering  of  a  church,  so  also  in  all  public  offices,  which 
concern  civil  order,  as  choice  of  magistrates  and  officers, 
making  and  repealing  laws,  dividing  allotment  of  inheritance, 
and  all  other  things  of  like  nature,  they  would  all  of  them 
be  ordered  by  the  rules  which  the  Scriptures  held  forth  to 
them."  This  was  the  general  platform  on  which  all  were 
to  stand,  until  they  could  elaborate  the  details  of  state.  It 
was  a  backward  spring,  and  com  rotted  in  the  ground,  but 
at  length  warm  weather  came  and  the  crops  were  generous. 
The  purpose  was  to  have  an  extensive  colony,  and  if  possible 
to  keep  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Indians.  On  November 
24,  1638,  they  bought  of  Momaguin,  the  sole  sachem  of  the 
region,  a  large  tract,  paying  for  it  twelve  coats  of  English 
cloth,  twelve  brass  spoons,  twelve  hatchets,  twenty-four 
knives,  twelve  porringers,  and  four  cases  of  French  knives 
and  scissors.  In  December,  they  bought  a  tract  ten  by 
thirteen  miles,  north  of  the  former,  a  tract  which  now  in- 
cludes parts  of  New  Haven,  Branford,  Wallingford,  East 
Haven,  Woodbridge,  Cheshire,  Hampden,  and  North  Haven. 
For  the  second  lot  the  payment  was  thirteen  coats,  with 
liberty  granted  to  the  Indians  to  hunt  within  the  lands. 
In  the  summer  of  1639,  they  met  in  Robert  Newman's 
bam,  and  in  a  formal  way  laid  the  foimdations  of  their 
permanent  government.  It  was  on  June  4,  that  the  free 
planters  gathered,  and  Davenport  preached  from  the  text, 
"Wisdom  hath  builded  her  house;  she  hath  hewn  out  her 
seven  pillars,"  and  from  this  he  gathered  that  the  church 


Rev.  John  Davenport  (1598-1670) 

From  an  Old  Copper  Print 


Settlement  Conclvicled  19 

should  be  formed  of  seven  principal  men.  He  proposed  a 
series  of  propositions,  and  Robert  Newman  was  asked  to 
"write  in  characters,  and  to  read  distinctly  and  audibly," 
six  questions,  which  were  discussed,  and  the  results  were 
adopted  "by  holding  up  their  hands."  The  following  reso- 
lutions which  were  subscribed  and  signed  by  the  one  hundred 
and  eleven  present,  were  the  fundamental  articles  of  New 
Haven  Colony. 

I.  That  the  Scriptures  give  a  perfect  rule  for  direction 
and  government  of  church,  family,  and  commonwealth. 

n.  That  churches,  public  offices,  magistrates,  making 
and  repealing  laws,  and  inheriting  of  property  should  be 
governed  by  Scripture  rules. 

in.  That  all  who  had  come  into  the  plantation  had 
done  so  with  the  purpose  of  being  church  members. 

IV.  That  all  free  planters  bound  themselves  to  establish 
such  civil  order  as  might  best  secure  peace  and  purity  to 
themselves  and  posterity,  according  to  God. 

V.  That  church  members  only  should  be  free  burgesses ; 
and  that  they  should  choose  magistrates  among  themselves 
to  transact  all  public  business,  make  and  repeal  laws,  divide 
inheritances,  decide  difficulties,  and  attend  to  all  else  of  a 
like  nature. 

VI.  That  twelve  men  should  be  chosen  to  select  seven 
to  begin  the  church. 

A  solemn  charge  or  oath  to  give  to  all  freemen  was  drawn, 
and  it  was  ordered  that  all  candidates  for  citizenship  in  the 
colony  should  subscribe  to  the  foregoing  agreement.  After 
due  term  of  trial,  Theophilus  Eaton,  John  Davenport, 
Robert  Newman,  Matthew  Gilbert,  Thomas  Fugill,  John 
Punderson,  and  Jeremiah  Dixon  were  chosen  to  be  the  seven 
pillars  of  the  church,  and  they  proceeded  to  organize  church 
and  state.  They  first  set  up  the  church  by  associating 
with  themselves  nine  others,  and  on  October  25,  1639,  they 
held  a  court  at  which  those  sixteen  men  elected  Theophilus 
Eaton  as  governor  for  a  year  and  four  others  to  aid  him  as 


20  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

deputies;  those  officers  were  addressed  by  John  Davenport 
in  what  was  called  a  charge.  There  were  no  statute  laws 
for  many  years,  and  for  the  time  the  only  restriction  on 
the  rulers  was  the  rules  of  the  Mosaic  law.  The  body  of 
free  burgesses  was  cautiously  enlarged.  This  government 
of  New  Haven  disfranchised  more  than  half  of  the  settlers, 
and  the  laws  afterward  enacted  gradually  brought  the 
government  into  close  resemblance  to  that  of  Massachusetts. 
The  next  half-century  saw  the  settlement  of  twenty-five 
other  towns,  three  of  which  began  in  1639 — Guilford,  Mil- 
ford,  and  Stratford.  The  people  of  New  Haven  were  hardly 
established  before  Guilford,  sixteen  miles  east  of  New  Haven, 
was  settled  in  August  by  a  company  of  forty  planters  from 
Surrey  and  Kent ;  they  had  left  England  in  full  sympathy  with 
Davenport,  and  formed  their  government  on  seven  pillars, 
with  Henry  Whitfield  and  Samuel  Desborough  as  leaders. 
The  first  town  to  settle  on  the  Housatonic  was  Milford,  whose 
Moses  and  Aaron  were  Peter  Prudden  and  William  Fowler. 
They  chose  their  seven  pillars  and  formed  their  government 
after  the  New  Haven  model,  except  that  they  admitted  six 
planters  who  were  not  church  members.  Their  land  was 
purchased  by  four  men  who  went  in  advance  of  the  rest  and 
purchased  a  tract  two  miles  long,  paying  six  coats,  ten 
blankets,  one  kettle,  and  a  number  of  hoes,  knives,  hatchets, 
and  glasses.  The  settlers  in  Milford  came  from  Essex  and 
York,  with  the  addition  of  a  few  who  had  been  unhappy  in 
Wethersfield — forty-four  in  all.  The  Stratford  lands  were 
purchased  in  1639,  settlement  made  at  once,  and  in 
1673,  after  a  church  quarrel,  about  fifteen  families,  consti- 
tuting half  the  congregation,  taking  their  minister,  settled 
in  Woodbury,  In  the  political  isolation  of  these  towns  we 
see  the  principle  of  church  independence  advocated  by 
Davenport  and  his  followers.  Branford  was  purchased  in 
December,  1638,  by  the  New  Haven  colonists,  a  few  days 
after  they  had  bought  New  Haven,  and  in  1644,  a  tract  of 
this  land  was  sold  to  William  Swaim  and  others  for  some 


The  Old  Home  of  Hon.  John  Webster,  Fifth  Governor  of 
Connecticut,  at  Hartford 


A  Typical  Chain  Ferry 


Settlement  Conclxided  21 

people  in  Wethersfield,  who  wished  to  move;  and  at  the 
same  time  with  the  coming  of  the  Wethersfield  people, 
Abraham  Pierson  appeared  on  the  groimd  with  a  part  of 
the  church  and  congregation  of  Southampton,  Long  Island, 
and  a  church  was  formed  with  Pierson  as  minister,  but  they 
soon  became  discontented  with  the  New  Haven  style  of 
government  and  moved  to  Newark,  New  Jersey,  a  migration 
in  which  Milford,  New  Haven,  and  Guilford  had  a  prominent 
part.  Another  ancient  town,  Fairfield,  is  in  the  territory  dis- 
covered when  the  troops  were  in  pursuit  of  the  Pequots  in 
1637.  Roger  Ludlow,  who  was  with  the  troops  when  they 
went  to  the  great  swamp  in  the  town,  was  so  well  pleased 
with  the  fine  land  in  the  vicinity,  he  planned  a  settlement, 
and,  in  1639,  he,  with  eight  or  nine  families  of  Windsor,  began 
the  settlement  of  Fairfield,  being  reinforced  in  a  short  time 
by  pioneers  from  Watertown  and  Concord. 

Greenwich  was  bought  of  the  Indians  in  1640,  and  was 
under  the  Dutch  government  for  several  years,  which  was 
unfortunate  for  the  settlement  as  the  Dutch  were  hostile 
to  the  Indians,  and  the  settlers  were  in  consequence  exposed 
to  dangers.  The  year  1640,  also  saw  the  purchase  of  land 
on  Long  Island  and  the  beginning  of  Southold.  In  1641, 
Rippowams  or  Stamford  was  purchased  for  twelve  coats 
and  as  many  hoes,  hatchets,  and  knives,  together  with  two 
kettles  and  four  fathoms  of  white  wampum;  some  of  the 
settlers  coming  from  Wethersfield,  under  the  leadership  of 
Rev.  Richard  Denton. 

In  April,  1643,  fear  of  the  Indians  and  of  the  Dutch 
caused  a  union  of  New  Haven,  Guilford,  Milford  and  Stam- 
ford, and  this  confederacy  became  a  member  of  the  larger 
confederation  of  New  England,  which  formed  that  year.  In 
October,  1643,  a  constitution  was  agreed  upon,  which  limited 
suffrage  to  church  members  and  established  three  courts — 
the  Plantation  Court  for  small  cases,  consisting  of  "fitt  and 
able"  men  in  each  town;  the  Court  of  Magistrates,  consisting 
of  the  governor  and  three  assistants  for  weighty  cases;  and 


22  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

the  General  Court,  consisting  of  the  magistrates  and  two 
deputies  for  each  of  the  four  towns,  and  this  was  to  sit  in 
New  Haven  twice  a  year,  to  make  laws  and  annually  elect 
magistrates.  As  trial  by  jury  was  not  found  in  the  Mosaic 
law  it  was  dispensed  with.  In  1649,  Southold,  in  1651, 
Branford,  and  in  1656,  Greenwich  were  admitted  to  the  New 
Haven  Confederacy.  These  seven  towns — New  Haven, 
Guilford,  Milford,  Stamford,  Southold,  Branford,  and  Green- 
wich— 'Were  the  only  towns  that  ever  belonged  to  the  New 
Haven  Confederacy.  Knowing  that  they  were  not  to  be  far 
from  Massachusetts,  Eaton  and  Davenport  had  not  brought 
a  military  officer,  but  while  at  the  Bay  they  discovered  a 
valuable  man  who  had  been  in  the  Pequot  war.  Captain 
Turner,  whom  they  persuaded  to  attend  the  expedition  to 
Quinnipiac,  and  on  November  25,  1639,  thirty  days  after 
the  organization  of  the  court,  it  was 

ordered  that  every  one  that  bears  arms  shall  be  completely 
furnished  with  arms;  viz.,  a  musket,  a  sword,  bandoleers,  a  rest, 
a  pound  of  powder,  twenty  bullets  fitted  to  the  musket,  or  four 
pounds  of  pistol-shot  or  swan-shot  at  least,  and  be  ready  to 
show  them  in  the  market-place,  before  Capt.  Turner,  under 
the  penalty  of  twenty  shillings  fine  for  every  default  or  absence. 

Attracted  by  the  fertile  meadows  ten  miles  to  the  west, 
settlers  from  Hartford  went  over  the  mountain  ridge  and 
laid  out  a  beautiful  town  on  the  banks  of  the  Tunxis  River, 
buying  lands  of  the  Indians,  and  in  1640,  Farmington  was 
incorporated ;  people  from  Boston,  Cambridge,  and  Roxbury 
taking  part  in  the  enterprise.  In  1646,  New  London  was 
settled,  and  two  years  later  more  than  forty  persons  joined 
those  who  were  there,  and  among  them  was  John  Winthrop, 
Jr.  The  next  town  to  organize  was  Stonington,  which  was 
settled  in  1649,  imder  the  leadership  of  William  Cheesborough, 
a  member  of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  It  was  at  first  a  part 
of  Massachusetts  and  was  named  Southerton;  in  1662,  it 
became  a  part  of  Connecticut,  and  was  named  Stonington. 


Settlement  Conclxided  23 

Norwalk  was  settled  in  1649,  and  incorporated  in  1651.  A 
committee  was  appointed  in  March,  1650,  to  explore  Matta- 
besett,  and  it  reported  that  fifteen  families  might  get  a 
living  there,  and  in  November,  1653,  planters  from  Wethers- 
field,  Hartford,  and  England  established  the  settlement  of 
Middletown.  The  center  of  every  one  of  these  plantations 
was  the  meeting-house,  which  was  built  after  about  the 
same  style  and  composed  of  wood  (except  in  Guilford  where 
stone  was  used),  and  the  one  in  New  Haven  was  fifty  feet 
square,  with  a  roof  like  a  pyramid,  ending  in  a  tower  and 
turret.  There  were  also  "banisters  and  rails  on  the  meeting- 
house top,  whence  the  drummer  could  summon  the  people 
on  the  Sabbath  or  when  Indians  attacked  the  town." 

Preparations  for  the  settlement  of  Norwich  began  in 
Saybrook  as  early  as  1654,  under  the  leadership  of  the  famous 
and  martial  Captain  John  Mason,  with  whom  were  associ- 
ated thirty-four  others.  Mason  had  been  the  friend  and 
adviser  of  the  wily  Uncas  for  twenty-four  years,  and  having 
frequently  visited  him,  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
country,  and  it  was  doubtless  by  Mason's  influence  that 
Uncas  and  his  two  sons  appeared  at  Saybrook  in  June,  1659, 
and  signed  a  deed  of  conveyance,  which  gave  the  company 
of  thirty-five  proprietors  a  title  to  a  tract  of  land  of  nine 
square  miles  at  Mohican.  There  was  another  reason,  for 
in  1645,  Uncas  was  closely  besieged  by  the  Narragansetts, 
and  Captain  Mason,  who  was  in  command  at  the  Saybrook 
fort,  sent  a  boat-load  of  beef,  corn,  and  peas  by  night,  under 
the  command  of  Thomas  Leffingwell,  and  Uncas  never 
forgot  the  favor.  Seventy  pounds  was  the  price  for  the 
land,  and  since  Connecticut  had  bought  it  before  and  paid 
for  it,  the  English  were  more  than  fair  with  the  Indians. 
Mason  was  then  commissioned  by  the  legislature  to  buy  the 
rest  of  the  Mohican  country,  which  he  did,  and  a  deed  of 
cession  was  signed  in  August,  1659,  and  in  the  following 
November,  a  few  settlers  made  their  way  to  the  new  town 
and  spent  the  winter  there.     The  Mohicans  assisted  them 


24  A  History  of  Connectic\it 

in  carrying  their  goods,  and  soon  the  town  was  laid  out. 
The  earliest  act  recorded  on  the  town  book  was  on  December 
II,  1660,  and  the  name  Norwich  was  given  to  the  place  about 
1662.  The  settlers  were  the  church  of  Rev.  James  Fitch 
of  Saybrook,  and  the  minister  was  a  leading  spirit  in  the 
enterprise.  There  was  much  trouble  and  litigation  in  later 
years  between  the  settlers  and  the  Indians  over  the  title  to 
the  lands,  since  it  was  claimed  that  Uncas  had  made  over  the 
title  to  the  lands  to  Mason  to  secure  them  to  his  tribe,  of 
which  Mason  was  the  guardian.  One  phase  of  this  was  the 
act  of  Mason  in  1671,  in  making  over  to  the  tribe  a  tract  of 
more  than  four  thousand  acres,  usually  called  the  sequestered 
lands.  But  disputes  continued  for  seventy  years  over  the 
lands  occupied  by  settlers  in  Colchester,  Windham,  Mans- 
field, Hebron,  and  some  other  towns,  and  it  was  not  until 
1743,  that  the  case  was  settled  by  a  decision  to  refer  the 
matter  to  the  king  in  council.  The  final  decision  was 
given  in  1767,  and  it  was  against  the  Mohicans,  who  soon 
faded  away.  The  same  year  of  the  settlement  of  Norwich, 
1660,  Suffield  was  settled,  the  land  having  been  bought  of 
two  sachems  for  one  himdred  dollars. 

,*•  There  is  a  curious  story  about  Lyme,  which  was  settled 
about  1664,  taking  at  first  the  name  of  East  Saybrook,  that 
in  a  controversy  with  New  London  over  the  ownership  of  a 
tract  of  land  claimed  by  both  Lyme  and  its  neighbor,  it  was 
decided  to  settle  the  difficulty  by  a  fight  with  fists  by  two 
champions  of  the  towns  rather  than  to  go  to  the  expense  of 
an  application  to  the  legislature,  and  as  the  advantage  was 
with  Lyme,  it  took  possession  of  the  land. 

The  river  towns  are  the  mothers  of  eleven  daughters: 
Windsor  of  five — East  Windsor,  South  Windsor,  Simsbury, 
Ellington,  and  Windsor  Locks;  Hartford  of  three — East 
Hartford,  West  Hartford,  and  Manchester;  Wethersfield 
of  three — Glastonbury,  Rocky  Hill,  and  Newington.  In 
1662,  Windsor  began  to  overflow  into  East  Windsor; 
the    same    year    the    lands    forming    Haddam    and    East 


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Settlement  Conclxidecl  25 

Haddam  were  bought  for  thirty  coats,  worth  perhaps  a 
hundred  dollars,  being  soon  taken  up  by  twenty-eight 
young  men,  mostly  from  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethers- 
field,  and  Haddam  was  incorporated  in  1668.  In  1663, 
the  legislature  approved  of  a  proposition  for  a  town  in 
what  is  now  Killingworth,  and  twelve  planters  from  Hart- 
ford, Windsor,  and  Guilford  moved  into  it  at  once,  liv- 
ing on  friendly  terms  with  the  Indians.  In  the  process  of 
filling  in  around  the  older  towns,  land  west  of  Windsor  was 
bought  of  the  Indians  in  1670,  and  the  town  of  Simsbury 
settled,  though  six  years  later,  the  inhabitants,  alarmed  by 
the  hostility  of  the  Indians,  buried  their  goods  and  went 
back  to  Windsor,  and  the  savages  destroyed  every  vestige  of 
improvement  so  completely  that  on  the  return  of  the  settlers 
they  could  scarcely  find  their  property.  As  we  have  seen, 
in  1638,  "New  Haven  village"  was  purchased,  and  it  was 
not  until  1670,  that  it  was  settled,  and  then  it  was  called 
Wallingford,  and  four  years  later  it  received  its  own  minister. 
In  1672,  the  legislature  granted  liberty  to  William  Curtis 
and  others  to  make  a  plantation  at  Pomeraug;  two  years 
later,  the  settlement  was  constituted  a  town  with  the  name 
of  Woodbury,  and  Southbury  was  settled  the  same  year.  In 
1673,  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Farmington  obtained 
permission  of  the  legislature  to  investigate  the  lands  on  the 
Naugatuck,  then  called  Mattatuck,  now  Waterbury ;  the  dis- 
tresses of  King  Philip's  war  delayed  the  purchase  and  settle- 
ment, but  in  1677,  there  were  a  few  temporary  huts  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  river,  and  in  1686,  it  was  incorporated  and 
the  name  changed  to  Waterbury.  The  settlement  of  Dan- 
bury,  one  of  the  coimty  seats  of  Fairfield  County,  began  in 
1683.  In  1675,  Joshua,  son  of  Uncas,  the  Mohican  sachem, 
gave  by  will  to  Captain  John  Mason  and  fifteen  others  the 
tract  containing  Windham,  Mansfield,  and  Canterbury,  and 
in  May,  1686,  the  main  streets  of  Windham  were  laid  out. 
In  1659,  Governor  Winthrop  obtained  permission  of  the 
legislature  to  buy  a  large  tract  of  land,  which  in  1689,  was 


26  >\  History  of  Connecticxat 

sold  to  people  from  Massachusetts,  who  settled  Plainfield, 
and  lived  on  friendly  terms  with  the  numerous  Indians  in 
the  neighborhood. 

The  organization  of  the  towns  stimulated  vigor  and 
individuality,  furnishing  a  bulwark  of  singular  pertinacity, 
and  one  method  of  strengthening  this  was  the  giving  so  many 
people  something  to  do  in  public  affairs.  Every  town  had 
two  or  more  townsmen,  or,  as  they  came  to  be  called  toward 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  selectmen,  also  justices 
of  the  peace,  constables,  town  clerk,  treasurer,  highway 
surveyors — sometimes  to  the  number  of  twenty,  fence- view- 
ers, listers,  collectors  of  taxes,  leather-sealers,  grand  jurors, 
tithing-men,  haywards,  or  guardians  of  the  boundaries, 
chimney- viewers,  gaugers,  packers,  sealers  of  weights  and 
measures,  key-keepers,  recorders  of  sheep  marks,  branders 
of  horses,  and  others.  These  offices  gave  more  or  less  of 
influence  and  authority,  and  a  little  salary  to  many  men. 
If  the  oldest  office  in  the  town  was  the  constable,  the  oldest 
institution  was  the  pound,  which  is  said  to  be  older  than  the 
kingdom  in  the  history  of  England.  Before  the  community 
was  recognized  as  a  civic  or  religious  unit,  the  settlers  were 
given  permission  to  "make  and  maintain  a  pound,"  some- 
times without  conditions,  sometimes  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  town  from  which  the  settlement  was  made.  The 
next  step  was  often  a  request  for  "winter  privileges,"  with 
a  remission  of  one  half  of  the  ministerial  taxes ;  this  was  the 
case  where  the  settlement  was  six  or  eight  miles  from  the 
center.  Sometimes  the  "liberty  of  a  minister"  was  asked 
for  at  first,  and  sometimes,  when  the  call  was  made  for  a 
pound  there  was  also  a  petition  for  a  separate  church.  Then 
followed  the  incorporation  of  the  society  by  a  charter  from 
the  legislature,  following  which  was  election  of  officers. 
Glastonbury  stepped  at  once  into  the  possession  of  the  full 
privileges  of  a  town.  Towns  were  less  republican  than  now, 
more  overshadowed  by  the  General  Court,  and  questions 
regarding  religious  differences,  choice  of  sites  for  meeting- 


Settlement  Concluded  27 

houses,  organization  of  ministers,  and  settlement  of  ministers 
were  decided  by  the  legislature,  with  or  without  the  request 
of  the  town.  In  the  first  sixty  years  it  was  easy  to  obtain 
permission  to  form  a  new  town,  but  later  on  it  was  differ- 
ent, and  some  towns  petitioned  years  for  the  privileges 
of  incorporation.  The  settlement  of  the  commonwealth 
was  promoted  by  the  coming  of  many  settlers  from  England 
during  the  disturbances  of  the  Puritan  uprising,  as  well  as 
by  church  quarrels  and  Anglo-Saxon  enterprise. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  INDIANS 

ONE  of  the  most  powerful  influences  affecting  the  early  life 
of  the  settlers  was  that  of  the  aborigines,  the  Indians, 
who  belonged  to  the  Algonkin  stock,  members  of  which 
were  found  from  Labrador  to  South  Carolina;  King  Philip, 
Powhatan,  Pocahontas,  and  Black  Hawk,  who  have  appealed 
most  to  our  novelists  and  dramatists,  were  all  of  Algonkin 
lineage.  It  is  believed  that  widespread  pestilences  had 
carried  off  many  of  the  natives,  so  that  the  process  of  taking 
possession  of  the  country  was  less  difficult  than  it  would 
have  been  a  few  years  eariier.  It  was  trying  enough  as 
it  was,  for  the  Indians  were  swift,  wary,  cruel  in  war, 
shrewd  in  coimcil,  ingenious  and  skillful  with  their  devices. 
The  name  Connecticut  is  the  same  as  the  name  of  the  Indi- 
ans dwelling  on  its  banks,  and  it  vividly  reminds  us  of  the 
tribal  title  of  the  people,  whose  rude  faces  looked  on  the 
first  boat-load  of  settlers  ascending  the  river.  It  is  pure 
guesswork  to  try  to  estimate  the  number  of  the  Connecticut 
Indians.  There  is  evidence  that  the  Pequots  could  muster 
six  hundred  warriors,  and  it  is  probable  that  they  were  as 
numerous  as  all  the  other  tribes  of  Connecticut  combined. 
The  Quinnipiacs  extended  along  the  shore  from  Milford  to 
Madison,  holding  the  bay  of  New  Haven  and  the  little 
rivers  that  empty  into  it  as  fishing-places.  Yet  when  they 
sold  their  country  in  1638,  to  Davenport  and  his  associates, 
they  could  state  that  the  number  of  men  of  their  tribe  was 

28 


°  s 

O    V 

•-<      CO 

Hi: 


■<1-  C/3 

•o  O 

•-I  „« 

O  a 


W 


«^  THe  Indians  29 

only  forty-seven,  their  total  population  being  but  two  hun- 
(jred  souls.  The  sea-coast  was  the  most  thickly  peopled,  and 
iiext  to  this  the  river  coiu-ses,  on  account  of  the  fishing. 
The  Paugussetts,  who  inhabited  Stratford,  Huntington, 
and  the  surroiinding  townships,  and  the  Wepawaugs,  who 
lived  opposite  them  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Housatonics, 
^ere  similar  people,  and  were  not  very  ntmierous.  Litch- 
field County,  the  northern  part  of  Fairfield  County,  and 
the  western  part  of  Hartford  Coimty  were  an  iminhabited 
wilderness.  On  the  Farmington  River,  ten  miles  west  of 
Hartford,  hved  a  small  tribe,  the  Timxis  Indians,  who, 
according  to  tradition,  had  been  conquered  some  years 
before  by  the  Stockbridge  Indians.  There  was  evidently 
a  considerable  tribe  in  the  vicinity  of  Hartford,  or  it  may 
have  been  a  confederacy,  as  some  of  the  same  names  are 
found  attached  to  deeds  in  the  town  records  from  Windsor 
to  Middletown.  They  embraced  the  bands  that  Blok  in 
1614,  described  as  the  "nation  called  the  Sequins,"  with 
lodges  on  both  sides  of  the  river  at  or  above  the  great  bend 
at  Middletown,  and  also  the  Nawaas  with  their  fortified 
town  at  South  Windsor.  The  capital  of  the  Sequins,  or 
Wangimks  as  they  were  afterwards  called,  was  Middletown, 
and  their  chieftain  Sowheag  sold  Wethersfield  to  the  settlers. 
Allied  with  him  was  Sequasson,  sachem  of  Hartford.  In 
East  Hartford  and  East  Windsor  Hved  the  Podunks.  There 
was  a  small  clan  in  Haddam  and  East  Haddam,  much  given 
to  religious  ceremonies,  and  who  "drove  a  prodigious  trade  at 
worshiping  the  devil,"  being  aided  in  their  superstitious 
ceremonies  by  the  earthquake  shocks,  or  whatever  else  it 
was — the  famous  "Moodus  noises" — prevailing  in  early 
times.  Tolland  and  Windham  counties  had  a  scattered 
population  of  Nipmucks,  who  were  peculiarly  degraded  and 
repulsive. 

The  Pequots,  the  most  numerous,  the  fiercest,  the  brav- 
est of  all  the  tribes  of  Connecticut,  had  two  forts  at  Mystic, 
but  their  wigwams  extended  for  miles  along  the  stony  hills 


30  A.  History  of  Connectictit 

of  New  London  County,  a  district  of  about  five  hundred 
square  miles;  their  northernmost  community,  the  Mohicans 
living  on  the  Thames  where  Norwich  and  the  neighboring 
towns  are  now.  Pequots  and  Mohicans  were  of  the  same  race 
as  the  Hudson  River  Mohicans,  and  not  much  before  1600 
it  is  supposed  that  they  abandoned  their  lodges  on  thi 
Hudson  and  fought  their  way  into  southeastern  Connecticut; 
kilHng  and  driving  out  the  Indians  there,  going  by  way  ol 
Massachusetts,  as  Pequot  traditions  agree  in  asserting  thai 
they  migrated  from  the  north  shortly  before  the  arrival  o 
the  EngHsh.  It  is  probable  that  the  predecessors  of  tb 
Pequots  and  Mohicans  were  of  the  same  family  as  th^ 
Narragansetts ;  and  since  the  Niantics  of  Lyme  were  con 
nected  with  the  Niantics  of  Rhode  Island,  and  Sequasson 
chief  of  Farmington  and  Connecticut  River  countries,  was 
connection  of  the  Narragansett  sachems,  and  the  Indians! 
of  Windsor  were  closely  united  to  the  Wepawaugs  of  Milfordi 
it  appears  reasonable  that  before  the  Pequots  came  upoi 
the  scene,  the  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  Indians  wen 
of  one  great  family  or  confederation. 

The  interloping  Pequots  found  themselves  in  a  large  anc 
attractive  country,  furnishing  ample  food  supply,  and  thei 
fierce  war  parties  swept  into  the  Narragansett  country  o: 
the  east;  and  thrice  their  armies  came  into  collision  witl 
Sequasson,  the  most  powerful  of  the  sachems  of  centra 
Connecticut.  Sequasson  was  completely  overthrown,  anc 
became  their  subject  until  relieved  by  the  English.  The 
Pequots  conquered  as  far  as  the  bay  of  New  Haven,  com' 
pelling  the  Quinnipiacs  to  pay  tribute.  Then  they  crossed: 
in  their  canoes  to  Long  Island  and  to  Block  Island  and 
extorted  tribute  there.  The  sagamore  of  the  Mohicans 
was  Uncas,  a  man  of  powerful  build,  and  heir  apparent  to: 
the  Pequot  sachemdom  through  the  female  line,  his  mother! 
being  aimt  to  the  reigning  sachem  when  the  English  moved! 
to  the  river.  Growing  proud,  and  becorriing  treacherous,! 
it  is  said,  to  the  reigning  sachem,  he  suffered  repeated  hum-| 


XKe  Indians  31 

blings,  and  was  driven  from  his  country,  and  permitted  to 
return  only  on  the  promise  of  submission. 

After  Wapegoot,  the  Pequot  sachem,  was  slain,  Uncas 
made  claim  to  the  sachemdom,  but  the  aggressive  Sassacus 
was  chosen,  and  he  with  his  twenty-six  war  captains  became 
a  terror  to  Uncas  and  the  River  Indians.  The  Narragan- 
setts  were  the  only  tribe  in  New  England  which  the  Pequots 
had  not  conquered,  and  there  was  perpetual  war  between 
the  two  tribes.  Canonicus  was  chief  of  the  Narragansetts, 
but  his  wily  nephew,  Miantonomo,  was  the  ruling  spirit. 

There  was  another  reason  why  Uncas  and  the  Indians  on 
the  river  cordially  welcomed  the  coming  of  the  English, 
and  that  was  the  hostility  of  the  Mohawks,  fierce  members 
of  the  Five  Nations  of  the  Iroquois  in  central  New  York, 
who  were  the  leading  Indian  power  in  North  America.  The 
Connecticut  Indians  were  in  deadly  fear  of  the  Hudson  River 
Indians,  and  when  a  band  of  those  warriors  appeared  they 
fled  with  the  cry,  "The  Mohawks  are  coming."  The  Mo- 
hawks would  cry  out,  "We  are  come,  we  are  come  to  suck 
your  blood."  When  the  Connecticut  Indians  could  not 
escape  to  their  forts,  they  would  run  into  English  houses 
for  shelter,  and  sometimes  the  Mohawks  would  pursue  so 
closely  as  to  enter  with  them,  and  kill  them  in  the  presence 
of  the  family,  if  there  was  not  time  to  shut  the  door,  but  they 
would  never  enter  by  force,  nor  would  they  injure  the  Eng- 
lish. Every  summer,  two  old  Mohawks  would  visit  the 
River  Indians,  issuing  orders  and  collecting  tribute.  Up 
and  down  the  Connecticut  valley  they  passed,  seizing 
wampum  and  weapons,  and  proclaiming  the  last  stern  edict 
of  the  savage  council  of  Onondaga,  heedless  of  the  scowling 
Mohicans  and  Sequins,  ground  between  Mohawks  and 
Pequots. 

The  Indians  were  large,  straight,  well-built  men,  capable 
of  enduring  excessive  hardships  and  torture.  They  could 
run  a  hundred  miles  in  a  summer  day.  They  were  unclean 
in  their  habits  and  cruel  to  the  last  degree.     As  a  warrior 


3^  -A.  History  of  Oonnecticvit 

the  Indian  was  a  master,  reveling  in  war.  The  approved 
tactics  of  our  day  are  those  which  Indians  developed,  which 
the  whites  learned  from  them  at  large  expense.  Discipline 
was  preserved,  yet  there  was  abimdant  opportunity  for 
personal  initiative.  Their  methods  of  signal  service,  finding 
and  using  cover,  scouting,  gaining  information,  keeping  in 
touch  with  the  enemy,  learning  as  much  as  possible  of 
the  foe  without  self-betrayal,  became  a  revelation  to  men 
familiar  only  with  European  ways.  It  is  too  much  to  say 
that  the  United  States  owes  to  Indians  its  independence, 
but  they  emphasized  the  value  of  individual  effort,  and 
taught  a  new  science  of  warfare,  by  which  the  colonial 
troops  harassed  the  British  regulars  to  desperation,  and 
overmatched  English  pluck  and  endurance. 

The  claim  that  a  few  Indians — perhaps  six  thousand — 
had  a  property  right  over  great  forest  lands  which  they  did 
not  clear  and  till,  whose  boundaries  they  did  not  mark,  on 
which  they  had  no  fixed  habitation,  about  whose  ownership 
they  did  not  fight  with  one  another,  except  over  game,  is 
about  as  reasonable  as  would  be  the  claims  of  the  bears  of 
the  wilds.  As  a  rule  the  whites  paid  the  Indians  all  the 
lands  were  worth,  and  saved  not  a  few  from  death  at  the 
hands  of  other  Indians.  Pequots  were  interlopers  equally 
with  the  English ;  they  tortured  captives  to  death,  cut  large 
gashes  in  the  flesh  and  poured  in  live  coals,  and  made  sufferers 
eat  pieces  of  their  own  bodies.  True,  it  was  a  cruel  age; 
torture  was  a  civil  institution  in  England  and  Scotland. 
As  late  as  1646,  a  woman  had  her  tongue  nailed  to  a  board 
at  Henley-on-the-Thames,  because  she  complained  of  a 
tax  levied  by  Parliament.  Frontenac  burned  prisoners  at 
the  stake  in  1692.  It  was  a  common  thing  for  European 
armies  to  kill  all  prisoners. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  Indians  should  have  been 
jealous  of  the  English.  It  could  not  be  otherwise  when 
men  determined,  aggressive,  and  not  too  gentle,  came  in 
contact  with  a  people  little  above  the  brutes,  whose  religion 


"TKe  Indians  33 

was  a  kind  of  pantheism;  the  sun  a  god,  the  moon  a  goddess; 
every  fish,  bird,  reptile,  tree,  endued  with  mysterious  powers; 
whose  religious  leaders  were  conjurers;  whose  good  god 
Kiehtan  was  a  cloudy  bewilderment  of  goodness,  whom 
they  thanked  for  favors;  whose  devil  Hobbamocke  received 
the  majority  of  their  prayers  and  offerings;  whose  women 
were  slavish  beasts  of  burden;  whose  ruling  passions  were 
ambition,  envy,  jealousy,  revenge;  whose  treachery  was 
surpassed  by  their  suspicion  of  the  treachery  of  others. 
"They  are  a  people,"  wrote  Edward  Winslow,  "without  any 
religion  or  knowledge  of  God."  Mather  and  Eliot  were 
obliged  to  use  the  English  word  for  the  supreme  being  in 
describing  their  beliefs.  They  had  no  sacred  days  or  machin- 
ery of  religion,  hence  nothing  entitled  to  the  name  of  reli- 
gious sentiments.  The  medicine-man  or  powwow  was  not 
so  much  a  priest  as  a  conjurer,  a  healer  of  diseases,  and 
supposed  to  control  the  elements  by  virtue  of  mystic  arts. 
The  Algonkins  had  a  myth-cycle  of  the  rabbit,  like  the 
tar-baby  tales.  From  the  burial  customs  it  is  evident  that 
Indians  had  some  idea  of  a  future  life,  but  the  belief  in  a 
happy  hunting-ground  is  more  radiant  in  the  imagination 
of  sentimental  writers  than  in  the  faith  of  "these  dregs  of 
mankind,"  as  their  faithful  friend,  Roger  Williams,  called 
them;  after  extended  experience  with  them,  he  said,  "There 
is  no  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes;  and  all  the  cords  that 
ever  bound  the  barbarians  to  foreigners  were  made  of  self 
and  covetousness."  In  a  letter  to  Winslow,  Williams 
wrote,  "Lying,  stealing,  lying  and  uncleanness  are  Indian 
epidemical  sins." 

The  head  chiefs  were  in  absolute  authority,  surrounded 
by  courtiers,  the  largest,  wisest,  bravest  men,  a  bodyguard 
firm  and  undaunted,  trained  from  boyhood  by  coarse  fare 
and  whips.  The  mugwump  was  head  of  a  subtribal  band, 
the  boss  of  the  concern;  the  hereditary  sachem  entertained 
travelers  and  ambassadors;  he  was  brave,  subtle,  and  some- 
times eloquent,   careful  to  move  in  accordance  with   the 


34  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

wishes  of  the  people.  Indians  usually  hunted  alone,  but 
sometimes  grand  hunts  were  organized.  Their  dwelling 
places  were  made  of  poles  set  firmly  in  the  ground,  bent 
together  and  fastened  at  the  top;  the  sides  were  covered 
with  boughs,  thatched  with  rushes  or  bark.  Sanitary  laws 
and  cleanliness  were  unknown,  and  the  diseases  few  but 
deadly,  for  want  of  proper  treatment,  and  when  the  small- 
pox appeared  it  swept  away  hundreds  of  the  people.  Quin- 
sies, pleurisies,  rheumatisms,  and  quick  consumption  were 
common,  and  toothache  a  dreaded  malady;  Roger  Wil- 
liams records  the  fact  that  while  they  could  endure  every 
other  pain  with  fortitude,  this  was  too  much  for  their  resolu- 
tion, and  they  would  cry  and  groan  after  the  most  piteous 
fashion. 

For  curatives  they  used  sweating,  and  sometimes  purged 
the  system  with  herbs,  which  they  knew  how  to  select. 
One  mode  of  sweating  was  by  standing  closely  wrapped  over 
a  hole  in  the  earth  containing  a  heated  stone.  Another  was 
to  remain  an  hour  or  more  in  a  little  cabin  or  sweating  hut, 
which  was  always  on  the  bank  of  a  pond  or  stream,  so  that 
when  the  patient  had  perspired  sufficiently,  he  could  finish 
the  prescription  by  a  swift  plunge  in  the  water.  But  another 
method  was  considered  vastly  more  efficacious,  and  the 
practitioner  was  the  powwow,  who  began  his  treatment 
after  receiving  a  present,  the  size  of  which  regulated  his 
violence  and  effectiveness.  Attiring  himself  like  a  wild 
beast  or  gorgon,  he  entered  the  presence  of  the  patient  and 
began  in  a  low  tone  to  invoke  the  deities,  singing  and  gestur- 
ing; becoming  frantic  and  violent  he  closed  with  furious 
howls  and  shouts;  the  sick  man,  forgetting  his  pain,  joined 
in  the  hideous  song.  After  the  powwow  had  exhausted 
himself  and  worked  out  his  gift,  he  breathed  a  few  times  on 
the  patient,  and  went  away.  If  the  disease  was  too  deep 
and  death  came,  friends  would  visit  the  mourners,  stroking 
gently  cheek  or  head  and  saying,  "  Be  of  good  cheer."  Then 
a  respected  man  would  adorn  the  body  with  such  ornaments 


XHe  Indians  35 

as  the  relatives  could  afford,  swathe  it  with  skins  and  mats, 
and  it  was  buried,  and  with  it  dishes  of  food  and  implements 
of  war,  while  the  relatives  stood  by  with  faces  freshly  painted 
in  black. 

In  buying  lands  from  the  Indians  there  was  a  curious  cere- 
mony called  turf  and  twig.  In  February,  1639,  Ansantawae, 
sachem  of  the  Paugussetts,  sold  to  the  English  a  considerable 
tract  near  the  center  of  Milford.  The  purchasers  laid  down 
before  the  sachem  six  coats,  ten  blankets,  one  kettle,  and  a 
quantity  of  hoes,  knives,  hatchets,  and  looking-glasses.  A 
twig  and  a  piece  of  turf  were  handed  to  the  chief  by  a  fol- 
lower, he  stuck  the  twig  into  the  turf  and  gave  both  to 
the  English,  indicating  that  he  had  passed  over  the  soil  and 
all  it  sustained.  An  instrument  of  sale  was  also  drawn,  and 
signed  by  leaders  of  both  parties.  The  Indians  were  a 
trial  in  the  early  period,  entering  houses  freely  and  some- 
times causing  accidents  by  their  eagerness  to  handle  firearms, 
hence  penal  laws  were  passed  ordering  that  for  handling 
weapons  an  Indian  was  to  pay  a  fine  of  half  a  fathom  of 
wampum.  An  Indian  who  came  to  a  settlement  by  night 
might  be  summoned  by  the  watchman,  and  if  he  refused  to 
obey,  he  might  be  shot  down.  In  times  of  Indian  warfare 
it  was  sometimes  ordered  that  no  one  except  a  magistrate 
should  receive  a  native  into  his  house.  In  1647,  Indians 
were  forbidden  to  hire  lands  of  the  English,  because  of  their 
corrupting  influence  on  young  men.  Since  the  Indians 
complained  of  being  cheated  out  of  their  territories,  a  law 
was  passed  in  1663,  forbidding  private  individuals  buying 
lands  of  them. 

Connecticut  was  an  Indian  country,  its  colonies  only 
two  or  three  days'  march  on  both  sides  from  the  most 
cruel  and  dangerous  tribes  in  North  America,  and  there 
were  times  when  braves  would  lurk  in  the  neighboring  forest 
for  three  months  waiting  for  the  right  opportunity  to  strike. 
It  was  stiff  discipline:  grim  and  bloody  is  the  story  of  those 
bitter  years ;  it  was  a  rough  experience  for  both  races  in  that 


36  A.  History  of  Corxnectic\it 

stem  age,  and  at  length  the  English  killed,  drove  out,  or 
enslaved  most  of  the  Indians,  after  more  than  a  century  of 
fear  and  struggle. 

Just  how  much  the  settlers  owed  the  Indians,  and  how 
far  the  presence  of  the  aborigines  affected  the  settlements 
and  the  history,  are  questions  it  is  hard  to  answer.  No 
doubt  the  fact  that  there  were  powerful  tribes  had  a  decided 
influence  on  the  method  of  procedure  of  the  whites.  Had 
the  land  been  unoccupied  by  human  beings,  the  English 
might  have  swarmed  over  America  in  a  short  time,  and  the 
compact  settlement  on  the  Connecticut  and  its  neighbor- 
hood with  the  resulting  government  would  perhaps  never 
have  existed.  One  of  the  important  contributions  of  the 
Indians  was  the  system  of  trails,  camping-places,  and  trade- 
routes  which  they  had  established.  The  Bay  Path  was 
learned  of  the  Indians  by  the  first  pioneers  to  Connecticut. 
Indians  were  an  agricultural  people  and  cultivated  maize, 
squashes,  pumpkins,  beans,  and  tobacco.  It  was  possibly 
due  to  the  raising  and  storing  of  Indian  com  that  the  occu- 
pation of  the  continent  at  that  time  was  made  possible. 
The  general  distribution  of  the  plant  brought  from  the  south 
had  long  before  taken  place,  and  this,  with  wild  roots  and 
beans,  often  eked  out  the  food  supplies  of  the  conquering 
race.  The  English  learned  from  the  Indians  to  plant  com 
in  hills  and  to  fertilize  with  fish.  Governor  Bradford  says 
that  in  April,  1621,  "They  began  to  plant  their  come,  in 
which  service  Squanto  stood  them  in  great  stead,  showing 
ye  manner  how  to  set  it  and  after  how  to  dress  and  tend  it. 
And  he  tould  them,  excepte  they  got  fish  and  set  with  it 
(in  these  old  grounds)  it  would  come  to  nothing."  Thomas 
Morton  in  his  New  England's  Canaan  says,  "You  may  see 
in  one  township  a  hundred  acres  together  set  with  fish, 
every  acre  taking  1000  of  them,  &  an  acre  thus  dressed  will 
produce  and  yield  as  much  com  as  3  acres  without  fish." 
In  the  early  history  of  the  English  settlements  there  is 
frequent  mention  of  the  "bams"  of  the  Indians.     These 


THe  Indians  37 

were  holes  made  in  the  groirnd  in  which  com  and  other 
foods  were  cached,  and  these  helped  out  the  settlers.  The 
corn-cribs  set  on  posts  are  an  Indian  invention,  and  have 
been  slightly  changed  by  the  white  settlers.  The  hominy- 
mortar  and  the  device  of  preserving  com  on  the  cob  by 
braiding  the  husks  are  mentioned  by  early  chroniclers  as 
Indian  devices. 

The  influence  of  the  Indians  on  the  whites  is  suggested  by 
the  prevalence  of  such  names  as  "Indian  file,"  "Indian 
com,"  "Indian  summer,"  hickory,  chipmunk,  mugwump, 
moccasin,  squash,  woodchuck,  toboggan,  Saratoga,  skunk, 
hominy,  Tammany,  and  more  than  two  hundred  others. 
Indian  in  origin  are  such  expressions  as  these:  "fire-water," 
"paleface,"  "medicine-man,"  "Great  Spirit,"  "happy 
hunting-grounds,"  "Great  Father,"  "to  bury  the  hatchet," 
"to  smoke  the  pipe  of  peace,"  and  "to  take  his  scalp." 
The  Indians  were  familiar  with  valuable  febrifuges,  pur- 
gatives, astringents,  balsams,  and  stimulants,  and  the  "In- 
dian doctor"  was  sometimes  called  in  by  the  settlers  to 
stanch  wounds  and  alleviate  pain.  Upon  the  Indian  repu- 
tation in  medicine  many  quacks  and  impostors  have  ven- 
tured their  claims  to  cure  dozens  of  diseases.  Sweat-baths, 
corn-poultices,  lobelia,  witch-hazel,  cascara,  and  scores  of 
other  terms  suggest  the  wealth  of  Indian  "  folk-medicine." 
Ropes  and  strings  were  made  of  "Indian  hemp."  Corn- 
husk  mats  are  of  Indian  origin,  and  the  European  settlers 
learned  from  their  neighbors  of  many  durable  ways  of 
staining  and  dyeing.  The  white  settlers  owed  much  to 
the  Indians. 


CHAPTER  V 
WARS  WITH  THE  INDIANS 

REFERENCE  was  made  in  the  previous  chapter  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Indians  upon  the  EngHsh  in  training  them 
for  war,  and  the  discipline  came  hot  and  heavy  at  the  very 
start,  for  the  settlers  had  barely  secured  a  foothold  and  a 
covering  when  they  were  met  by  a  sharp  challenge  and 
stem  defiance  from  the  most  dangerous  tribe  in  New  Eng- 
land. During  the  sixteen  years  since  the  settlement  of 
Plymouth  the  Indians  had  been  in  the  main  friendly,  but 
so  numerous  were  the  English  becoming  that  the  Pequots 
from  their  forts  at  Groton  determined  to  strike  for  their 
hunting-grounds.  Outrages  opened  in  1634,  when  Captains 
Stone  and  Norton  were  killed  by  allies  of  the  Pequots,  while 
ascending  the  Connecticut  to  trade;  the  Pequot  chiefs 
Sassacus  and  Ninigret  were  in  the  conspiracy  and  shared 
the  plunder.  In  1636,  John  Oldham,  who  had  been  appointed 
collector  of  tribute  from  the  Pequots,  was  killed  by  them 
off  Block  Island,  and  his  boat  seized;  the  murderers  were 
attacked  by  John  Gallop,  another  trader,  killed  or  driven 
off,  and  the  body  of  Oldham,  still  warm,  was  found  in  the 
boat.  The  fugitives  fled  to  the  Pequots,  where  they  gained 
protection.  Although  the  Pequots  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  affair,  the  Massachusetts  government  sent  Captain 
Endicott  with  a  force  to  avenge  the  murder,  and  after 
stopping  at  Block  Island  and  destroying  some  Indian  houses 
and  two  hundred  acres  of  com,  he  went  to  the  mainland 

38    . 


\Srars  "witK  tKe  Indians  39 

and  burned  some  of  the  Pequot  wigwams,  which,  as  Gardener, 
the  commander  of  the  Say  brook  fort,  told  Endicott,  was 
outrageous  and  would  serve  only  to  bring  the  Indians  "like 
wasps  about  his  ears,"  a  prediction  that  came  true.  Sas- 
sacus  tried  to  draw  the  Narragansetts  into  a  general  war, 
which  might  have  annihilated  the  English  settlements  in 
Connecticut,  but  an  ancient  hostility  toward  their  fierce 
rivals  was  too  strong,  reinforced  as  it  was  by  the  diplomacy 
of  Roger  Williams,  who,  at  peril  of  life,  visited  the  forts, 
and  persuaded  the  Narragansett  chiefs  to  go  to  Boston  in 
the  autumn,  and  conclude  a  treaty  of  peace  and  alliance  with 
the  English. 

The  formidable  Pequots,  left  to  battle  alone,  spared  no 
pains  to  provoke  resentment.  Early  in  October,  they 
attacked  five  haymakers  from  the  Saybrook  garrison; 
seized  a  man  named  Butterfield  and  tortured  him  to  death 
and  a  few  days  after,  they  took  two  men  from  a  boat, — one 
they  killed,  the  other,  Joseph  Tilly,  was  tortured  to  death 
by  cutting  off  hands  and  feet.  The  Saybrook  fort  was  in  a 
state  of  siege  all  winter;  outhouses  and  haystacks  burned; 
cattle  killed  or  wounded.  It  was  worse  in  the  spring  as  Indi- 
ans watched  roads  and  river.  In  March,  Gardener,  the 
commander,  went  out  with  ten  men  to  work  on  the  land; 
they  were  waylaid,  three  slain,  the  rest  escaped  to  the  fort, 
which  was  at  once  surrounded  by  a  great  number  of  Pequots, 
who  challenged  the  English  to  come  out  and  fight;  mocking 
the  groans  and  prayers  of  tortured  men;  boasting  that  they 
could  kill  the  English  "all  one  flies,"  until  grape-shot  drove 
them  away.  Not  long  after  this,  three  men  sailing  down  the 
river  were  overpowered,  one  man  was  killed  and  he  fell 
overboard ;  the  others  were  cut  in  two  lengthwise  and  hung 
up  on  the  river  bank.  In  April,  Indians  went  as  far  as 
Wethersfield  and  waylaid  some  farmers  while  going  to  their 
fields,  killed  two  men,  a  woman,  and  child;  they  carried 
away  two  girls,  killed  twenty  cows,  and  destroyed  much 
other  property. 


40  j\.  History  of  Connecticxit 

In  the  midst  of  these  calamities,  the  General  Court  met 
at  Hartford,  May  i,  1637,  representing  the  little  repubhc 
of  eight  hundred  souls.  It  was  a  momentous  time  for  the 
company  of  fifteen — six  magistrates  and  nine  committee- 
men, who  were  to  decide  the  fate  of  Connecticut,  at  least 
for  a  time.  They  were  surrounded  by  Indian  tribes,  scat- 
tered through  the  country  from  Hudson  River  to  Narragan- 
sett  Bay;  these  tribes  united  could  have  fallen  upon  the 
whites  with  a  force  of  four  or  five  thousand  warriors.  The 
Pequots  had  five  hundred  fighting  men  and  no  one  could 
tell  how  soon  fresh  allies  would  join  their  forces.  The 
Indians  already  had  killed  thirty  people,  and  were  growing 
bolder;  there  seemed  to  be  no  alternative.  We  are  not 
surprised  to  read  on  the  record  the  following  vote,  "It  is 
ordered  that  there  shall  be  an  offensive  war  against  the 
Pequots,  and  there  shall  be  ninety  men  levied  out  of  the 
three  plantations  of  Hartford,  Windsor  and  Wethersfield." 
Hartford  was  to  furnish  .  forty-two,  Windsor  thirty,  and 
Wethersfield  eighteen  men.  There  have  been  longer  sessions, 
and  less  pointed  legislation  since  then,  but  none  more  ef- 
fective. Busy  days  followed,  and  on  Wednesday,  May  10, 
the  little  army  of  ninety  Englishmen  and  seventy  Mohicans 
embarked  in  three  small  vessels,  with  the  queer  names  of 
"a  pink,  a  pinnace  and  a  shallop."  The  commander  was 
Captain  John  Mason,  who  had  served  in  the  Netherlands 
under  Sir  John  Fairfax,  and  the  chaplain  was  Samuel  Stone. 
The  vessels  ran  aground  so  frequently  in  the  shallow  waters 
of  that  season  that  Uncas  begged  leave  to  go  ashore;  when 
the  English  reached  Saybrook  fort  on  Monday,  May  15, 
they  found  Captain  John  Underbill,  with  twenty  men  from 
Massachusetts,  with  Uncas,  happy  over  a  battle  with  the 
Pequots,  in  which  seven  had  been  killed  and  one  captured. 
The  last  was  handed  over  to  the  Mohicans,  who  tortured, 
roasted  and  ate  him. 

It  was  an  anxious  time  for  Captain  Mason  and  his  slender 
army,  lying  wind-bound  from  Monday  until  Friday  in  front 


Wars  -witK  tKe  Indians  41 

of  the  fort,  knowing  well  that  every  motion  was  watched 
by  sharp  Pequot  scouts,  that  his  passage  into  the  Thames 
would  find  the  enemy  well  prepared,  that  the  moment  he 
landed  his  men  on  the  rocky  shore,  Pequot  warriors  would 
hasten  by  the  himdreds  from  the  woods.  His  orders  were 
to  land  near  the  mouth  of  the  Pequot,  now  the  Thames 
River,  and  attack  the  enemy  from  the  west.  The  keen 
officer  knew  that  it  would  be  suicidal  to  leap  into  a  swarm 
of  arrows  with  his  little  band.  There  was  delay,  for  the 
other  officers  and  the  men  were  in  favor  of  obeying  instruc- 
tions to  assault  the  Indian  fort  at  once;  they  shrank  from 
the  long  march  through  the  woods  on  the  east,  and  the  long 
exposure  of  their  homes  through  their  absence.  In  the 
division  of  opinion,  Chaplain  Stone  played  a  valuable  part: 
urged  by  Captain  Mason  to  pray  for  guidance,  he  spent  most 
of  Thursday  night  in  prayer;  the  next  morning  he  reported 
the  harmony  of  the  captain's  plan  with  the  divine  will.  It 
was  decided  to  send  twenty  men  to  Hartford  to  strengthen 
the  home  guard,  while  Captain  Underhill,  with  nineteen 
men,  took  their  places. 

It  was  a  stiff  undertaking,  for  it  was  learned  from 
the  two  Wethersfield  girls,  captured  by  the  Indians  and 
brought  back  by  the  Dutch,  who  had  exchanged  for  them 
six  Indians,  that  the  Pequots  had  sixteen  muskets,  and  knew 
how  to  use  them.  Following  the  good  judgment  of  Captain 
Mason,  backed  up  by  the  prayers  of  the  chaplain,  the  tiny 
fleet  set  sail  for  Narragansett  Bay,  determined  to  march 
through  the  woods  across  Rhode  Island,  and  crush  the 
Indians  by  night.  They  passed  Watch  Hill  and  Point 
Judith  and  on  Saturday  evening  reached  Narragansett 
Pier,  and  came  to  anchor  near  Tower  Hill,  where  they  spent 
Sunday  on  shipboard,  a  northwest  gale  preventing  the 
landing  before  Tuesday  at  sunset.  Then  the  captain  led 
his  army  to  an  Indian  village,  not  far  away,  where  was 
a  Narragansett  chief,  who  approved  of  the  design  of  the 
expedition  and  the  program,  but  thought  the  force  too  small 


42  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

to  deal  with  an  enemy,  which  was,  as  he  said,  "very  great 
captains,  and  men  skilful  in  war." 

During  Tuesday  night,  an  Indian  rimner  came  from 
Providence  to  tell  Mason  that  Captain  Patrick  was  on  his 
way  from  Massachusetts  with  a  small  body  of  troops,  but 
Mason  balanced  the  value  of  surprise  against  the  import- 
ance of  additional  troops,  and  decided  to  push  on  at  once. 
He  set  out  through  the  wilderness  Wednesday  morning, 
May  24,  with  "seventy-seven  brave  Englishmen,  sixty 
frightened  Mohicans,  and  four  hundred  terrified  Narragan- 
setts  and  Niantics."  They  marched  twenty  miles  to 
Niantic,  a  village  of  the  Narragansetts,  on  the  borders  of 
the  Pequot  country.  The  chief,  fearing  the  enmity  of  the 
Pequots,  refused  admission  to  the  English  for  the  night. 
On  Thursday,  Mason  advanced  fifteen  miles  to  a  place  five 
miles  northwest  of  Stonington,  near  a  hill,  where  stood  the 
principal  stronghold  of  the  Pequots,  a  few  miles  from  the 
residence  of  Sassacus.  The  day  was  sultry  and  oppressive, 
some  of  the  men  fainted  from  heat,  and  most  of  the  Nar- 
ragansetts, "being  possessed  with  great  fear,"  fell  behind. 
Evidently  the  Pequots  had  not  been  alarmed,  since  the 
sentinels  of  the  English  could  hear  the  noisy  revels  in  the 
fort,  celebrating  possibly  the  departure  of  the  English  in 
fear.  Had  there  been  a  seer  among  those  fierce  men  in  that 
fort  on  the  hill  a  mile  west  of  Mystic,  he  might  well  have 
thrilled  his  companions  with  a  tragic  tale,  for  it  was  the 
last  night  of  the  Pequot  tribe  on  earth.  It  was  a  clear, 
beautiful  evening  in  spring,  and  amid  the  weird  shadows 
cast  by  the  trees  in  the  bright  moonlight,  the  soldiers, 
exhausted  by  the  march,  threw  themselves  on  the  ground 
and  slept.  "The  rocks  were  our  pillows,"  said  Mason, 
"but  rest  was  pleasant."  About  an  hour  before  light,  the 
men  were  roused  and  bidden  make  ready  for  battle.  The 
moon  still  shone  on  them  as  Chaplain  Stone  prayed  softly 
for  the  help  of  God,  and  soon  the  little  army  was  in  motion 
for  the  fort  two  miles  away  on  Pequot  Hill.     They  feared 


The  Plan  of  the  Pequot  Fort 


c-^ 


■^:i.ji;,iiwii3EiuM;j3JiJ[jyy'jyjyQ3iul'jyiiWL^ 
■'-■^^lifjiOroiJliiifJa 


'■Wo, 

IDUlllJI'  ""' '""  ""  -"       '• 

yiwiwyMliiji 


Belt  and  Strings  of  Wampum 


"Wars  "witK  tHe  Indians  43 

at  first  that  they  were  on  the  wrong  track,  but  were  reas- 
sured when  they  saw  a  field  of  com  newly  planted,  and  soon 
Uncas  the  chief  and  Wequash  the  guide  came  near.  "Where 
is  the  fort?"  asked  Mason.  "On  the  top  of  that  hill," 
was  the  answer.  "Where  are  the  rest  of  the  Indians?" 
asked  the  commander.  "Tell  them  not  to  fly,  but  to  stand 
off  as  far  as  they  please,  to  see  whether  Englishmen  will 
fight." 

The  fort  was  a  nearly  circular  area  of  several  acres, 
enclosed  by  trunks  of  trees  set  firmly  in  the  ground  close 
together,  and  rising  to  the  height  of  twelve  feet.  Within 
were  seventy  wigwams  in  two  rows.  There  were  two  en- 
trances, one  on  the  northeast  side,  the  other  on  the  west. 
Mason  led  at  one,  and  Underhill  at  the  other.  The  Pequots 
had  no  sentinels,  and  the  garrison  was  sound  asleep.  When 
the  storming  party  was  within  a  rod  of  the  palisade,  an 
Indian  dog  barked,  and  a  voice  of  an  Indian  was  heard 
shouting,  "Owanux!  Owanux!"  (Englishmen,  Englishmen). 
No  time  was  lost.  Mason  pushed  away  the  brush  before 
the  entrance  and  led  sixteen  men  into  the  enclosure;  a  des- 
perate hand-to-hand  struggle  began  with  the  Indians  who 
swarmed  from  the  wigwams  like  bees.  Some  of  the  Pequots 
began  to  shoot  from  the  doors  of  their  lodges.  One  of  them 
was  on  the  point  of  shooting  Mason  through  the  head,  when 
a  soldier  cut  the  bowstring  with  his  sword.  Soon  the 
captain  saw  two  soldiers  lowering  their  swords  toward  the 
earth  as  though  the  undertaking  were  hopeless;  the  attack- 
ing party  was  getting  out  of  breath  as  it  swept  through 
the  area,  killing  the  braves  right  and  left;  some  of  the  whites 
were  wounded,  two  were  dead.  "We  shall  never  kill  them 
this  way;  we  must  bum  them,"  shouted  Mason,  touching 
a  firebrand  to  the  mats  which  covered  a  hut.  The  fire, 
fanned  by  a  rising  northeaster,  spread  through  the  fort. 
Underhill  set  the  other  side  afire  with  a  train  of  gunpowder, 
and  the  English  were  driven  from  the  furnace.  In  an  hour 
the  fort  was  in  ashes;  English  muskets  shot  down  a  part  of 


44  -A.  History  of  Connectic\it 

those  that  escaped,  and  the  native  allies  brought  down  nearly 
all  the  rest.  "It  is  reported  by  themselves,"  said  Under- 
hill,  "that  there  were  about  four  hundred  souls  in  this  fort, 
not  above  five  of  them  escaped  out  of  our  hands."  Mason 
said  that  seven  hundred  perished,  and  seven  were  captured. 
Of  the  English,  two  were  killed  and  twenty  wounded. 

There  was  another  Indian  fort  a  few  miles  farther  west, 
near  the  path  to  Pequot  harbor,  where  Mason  had  arranged 
to  meet  the  vessels ;  food  and  ammunition  were  almost  spent ; 
the  surgeon  was  on  shipboard;  the  heat  was  overpowering, 
and  early  in  the  day,  the  Indians  from  the  other  garrison, 
seeing  the  smoking  ruins  of  their  neighbors,  tore  their  hair, 
and  working  themselves  into  a  frenzy,  rushed  upon  the 
Englishmen  to  avenge  the  slaughter,  but  Mason,  hiring  his 
allies  to  carry  away  the  wounded,  drove  back  the  enemy, 
and  at  evening  the  soldiers  embarked  and  returned  to 
Hartford,  after  an  absence  of  three  weeks. 

On  the  day  after  the  battle,  the  last  council  of  the  Pequot 
nation  was  held,  at  which  a  program  for  the  future  was 
adopted.  It  was  decided,  after  a  stormy  debate,  to  burn 
their  wigwams  and  supplies  and  join  the  Mohawks  on  the 
Hudson.  Thirty  men,  with  as  many  women  and  children, 
took  refuge  in  a  swamp  near  their  former  home.  Stoughton 
of  Massachusetts  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  found 
them  there  and  killed  all  the  men  but  two,  who  were  kept 
for  guides  to  lead  the  English  to  Sassacus,  the  fugitive  chief- 
tain. Thirty-three  of  the  Pequot  women  were  given  to  the 
Indian  allies;  the  remainder  were  sent  to  Massachusetts 
and  sold  as  slaves.  The  captured  women  reported  that 
thirteen  sachems  had  been  slain,  and  that  thirteen  survived. 

In  June,  the  Connecticut  Court  met  at  Hartford  and 
ordered  Mason  to  go  with  forty  men  to  carry  on  the  war. 
He  joined  Stoughton  with  his  Massachusetts  men  at  New 
London.  It  was  decided  to  follow  Sassacus  in  his  flight  to 
the  Hudson.  Grim,  persistent,  relentless  attack  and  pursuit 
were  the  program ;  the  conduct  of  the  Indians  in  their  flight 


"Wars  -witH  tKe  Indians  45 

did  not  dull  the  edge  of  the  sword ;  Sassacus  and  Monotto 
with  the  main  body  of  the  tribe,  while  crossing  the  Connecti- 
cut, killed  three  men  in  a  canoe  and  hung  their  bodies  on 
trees;  Mason,  Stoughton,  and  Uncas  were  on  their  track. 
Sachem's  Head  gained  its  name  from  the  fact  that  Uncas 
cut  off  the  head  of  a  Pequot  chief  and  hung  it  in  an  oak  there. 
In  hot  pursuit  Mason  overtook  the  foe  in  a  swamp  in  Fair- 
field, where  the  Indians  made  a  stand ;  a  cordon  was  formed 
about  the  Pequots;  all  who  were  not  red-handed  from  the 
murder  of  whites  were  offered  life;  it  was  specially  desired 
to  save  local  Indians  who  had  fled  to  the  swamp  in  terror  of 
vengeance,  and  also  the  women  and  children  of  the  Pequots. 
Some  availed  themselves  of  the  offer,  all  but  the  men. 
In  a  thick  fog  the  Indians  fell  upon  the  English,  but  were 
repulsed ;  in  the  hand-to-hand  struggle  which  followed  many 
Pequots  were  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  captured. 
A  massive  block  of  granite  has  been  recently  placed  in  the 
swamp  with  the  inscription: 

The  Great  Swamp-Fight 

Here  Ended 

The  Pequot  War 

July  13,  1637 

Sassacus  was  not  present  at  the  swamp  fight.  Accused  by 
his  people  of  being  the  author  of  their  misfortunes,  he  fled 
westward  to  the  country  of  the  Mohawks,  with  a  few  war- 
riors. The  Mohawks,  hating  the  Pequots  as  cordially  as 
did  the  English,  and  wishing  to  conciliate  the  latter,  be- 
headed Sassacus,  his  brother,  and  five  sachems,  sending 
their  scalps  to  Connecticut.  In  the  autumn  a  black,  glossy 
lock  of  hair  was  received  in  Boston;  it  was  from  the  head  of 
Sassacus,  who  was  more  fortunate  than  Uncas,  who  lived 
to  be  a  degraded,  drunken  dependent  of  the  English. 

This  victory  benefited   Uncas,  who  with  Miantonomo, 
sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  met  the  magistrates  at  Hart- 


46  -A.  History  of  Connectic\it 

ford,  September  21,  1737,  and  a  treaty  was  formed  between 
Connecticut,  the  Mohicans,  and  the  Narragansetts,  according 
to  which  there  was  to  be  perpetual  peace.  Connecticut  was 
to  have  the  territory  of  the  Pequots,  remnants  of  whom 
were  to  be  absorbed  by  the  Mohicans  and  Narragansetts,  and 
the  name  Pequot  was  to  cease,  save  in  that  sightly  elevation 
Pequot  Hill,  on  which  stands  a  rude  bowlder  crowned  by  a 
bronze  statue  of  Captain  John  Mason,  and  the  stately 
soldier  is  in  the  act  of  drawing  his  sword.  The  later  years 
of  Uncas  were  not  enviable,  though  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
giving  away  or  selling  for  a  trifle  large  tracts  of  land  about 
Norwich,  often  with  boimdaries  covering  previous  grants, 
until  in  1680,  becoming  alarmed  at  approaching  poverty, 
he  applied  to  the  legislature  to  take  jurisdiction  over 
his  remaining  property,  allowing  him  compensation  for 
sales;  agreeing  to  keep  the  peace  and  to  assist  the  colony 
in  case  of  attack.  The  Assembly  accepted  the  trust,  prom- 
ising to  give  good  advice  if  Uncas  were  attacked,  and 
furnish  ammunition  at  a  fair  price.  Uncas  lived  only  two 
or  three  years  to  enjoy  this  one-sided  arrangement,  dying 
in  1682,  or  1683.  His  son  Owenico  was  in  a  still  more 
pitiful  state  at  the  end.  In  1680,  he  made  over  all  the  lands 
his  father  had  given  him  on  the  Quinnebaug  to  James  Fitch, 
his  loving  friend,  as  he  called  him,  giving  as  a  reason  for  the 
deed  the  fact  that  some  of  the  English  extorted  land  from 
him  by  importunities,  and  others  by  inducing  him  to  sign 
papers  while  he  was  imder  the  influence  of  strong  liquors. 
James  Fitch  was  son  of  the  Norwich  minister,  but  imlike 
his  father  was  grasping  and  eager  for  land.  One  night 
Owenico  became  very  drunk,  fell  out  of  his  canoe,  and 
would  have  drowned  had  it  not  been  for  two  settlers,  to  one 
of  whom  he  gave  one  hundred  acres  of  land.  This  princely 
Owenico,  the  brave  warrior  in  early  manhood,  fighting 
gallantly  the  Pocomtocks,  Pocanokets,  and  Narragansetts, 
became  a  vagabond  in  his  old  age.  With  squaw,  blanket, 
gun,  and  a  pack  on  his  back,  he  wandered  about  the  settle- 


"Wars  "witH  tHe  Indians  47 

merits,  presenting  to  strangers  who  could  not  understand 
his  English  the  following  doggerel: 

Oneco,  king,  his  queen  doth  bring, 

To  beg  a  little  food ; 
As  they  go  along  his  friends  among 

To  try  how  kind,  how  good. 

Some  pork,  some  beef,  for  their  relief, 

And  if  you  can't  spare  bread, 
She'll  thank  you  for  a  pudding,  as  they  go  a-gooding, 

And  carry  it  on  her  head. 

The  question  now  arises,  can  we  justify  this  fearful 
campaign?  The  war  would  not  have  been  waged  at  that 
time  had  not  the  Endicott  expedition,  carried  on  in  defiance 
of  the  judgment  and  wishes  of  Connecticut,  enraged  the 
Pequots.  After  thirty  murders  by  the  savages,  Connecticut 
was  obliged  to  take  the  field.  It  was  clear  to  the  wisest 
and  best  men  in  Connecticut  that  the  question  was  squarely 
before  them,  either  to  slay  or  to  be  slain. 

The  next  Indian  war  was  in  1675-76,  and  the  Indians 
were  far  more  dangerous  than  the  Pequots  of  thirty-eight 
years  before.  Their  weapons  were  no  longer  confined  to 
the  spear,  the  arrow,  the  tomahawk,  and  the  scalping-knife ; 
firearms  with  powder  and  shot  were  in  their  hands.  They 
were  also  better  acquainted  with  the  methods  of  the 
English,  who  in  turn  had  been  studying  the  ways  of  the 
Indians.  While  many  armed  men  went  forth  from  the  Con- 
necticut villages  in  King  Philip's  war,  the  battle  scenes 
were  outside  the  colony,  though  heavy  losses  fell  within. 
King  Philip,  the  Indian  leader,  was  sachem  of  the 
Wampanoags,  and  his  chief  fort  was  at  Mount  Hope,  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  town  of  Bristol  in  Rhode  Island. 
For  several  years  it  had  been  supposed  among  the  colo- 
nies that  the  Indians  were  forming  a  general  conspiracy, 
with  the  purpose  of  ridding  their  hunting-grounds  of  people 


48  -A.  History  of  Connecticvjit 

who  seemed  to  the  independent  sachems  as  intruders  and 
usurpers.  John  Sausaman,  a  Christian  Indian,  who  had 
once  been  a  subject  of  PhiHp,  told  the  EngHsh  of  the  plot. 
Philip  secured  the  murder  of  Sausaman.  The  murderers 
were  tried  by  English  laws  and  executed.  Philip  armed  his 
subjects  and  began  to  march  up  and  down  the  country.  In 
June,  he  made  an  attack  on  Swanzey  near  Moimt  Hope, 
killing  nine  and  wounding  seven  of  the  people.  Other 
places  in  the  neighborhood  were  attacked,  and  the  colonies 
sent  soldiers  against  them.  The  Narragansetts  did  not 
enter  very  cordially  into  the  alliance,  which  Philip  sought 
to  make  as  general  as  possible.  They  did  harbor  the  old 
men  and  women  of  their  warlike  neighbors.  The  chiefs  of 
the  Narragansetts,  with  Canonchet  at  their  head,  for  a  time 
resisted  the  appeals  of  Philip,  and  a  treaty  was  forced  from 
them  which  they  soon  violated.  The  commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies,  convinced  that  the  Narragansetts  were 
aiding  Philip,  decided  that  an  army  of  a  thousand  men 
should  be  sent  against  the  Indian  headquarters  in  the  Nar- 
ragansett  country.  Of  these  Connecticut  furnished  three 
hundred  Englishmen,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  Pequot 
and  Mohican  Indians,  with  Major  Treat  in  command. 

On  December  18,  1675,  these  made  a  junction  with  the 
Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  forces.  Wading  through  the 
snow  imtil  about  one  o'clock,  they  reached  the  vicinity  of 
the  Indian  fort,  which  was  on  a  hill  in  the  center  of  a  great 
swamp.  The  fort  was  attacked  with  spirit,  and  after  con- 
siderable loss  was  taken  and  given  to  the  flames ;  hundreds 
of  the  Indian  warriors  were  killed,  many  captured,  and 
many  perished  in  the  snow.  It  was  a  costly  victory  for  the 
colonists,  as  eighty  were  killed  or  mortally  wounded,  and 
the  sufferings  on  the  return  were  extreme.  Of  the  five 
Connecticut  captains,  three,  Seely,  Gallup,  and  Marshall 
were  killed,  and  Captain  Mason  died  of  a  wound  nine  months 
afterwards.  It  was  a  fearful  winter  for  many  towns  in 
Massachusetts,  as  the  enemy  had  lost  their  dwellings  and 


"Wars  ^witK  tKe  Indians  49 

provisions,  and  there  was  little  to  detain  them  in  Rhode 
Island.  March  brought  disasters  to  Northampton,  Spring- 
field, Chelmsford,  Groton,  Sudbury,  and  Marlborough; 
Northfield,  Hadley,  and  Deerfield  were  also  sufferers.  Con- 
necticut troops  with  many  faithful  Pequots  under  Majors 
Talcott  and  Treat  ranged  through  the  country  back  and 
forth,  destroying  many  warriors  and  capturing  others,  and 
at  length  the  war  came  to  an  end.  It  is  impossible  to  esti- 
mate the  number  of  Indians  engaged.  About  six  hundred 
of  the  sturdiest  men  in  the  colonies  were  killed  and  wounded, 
and  the  country  was  in  mourning.  Connecticut  suffered 
nothing  from  the  ravages  of  the  enemy  in  this  war,  but  it 
was  a  time  of  dread ;  palisades  were  erected,  guns  kept  within 
reach,  garrison  houses  built,  heavy  expenses  incurred,  but 
the  country  was  rid  of  a  dangerous  enemy  by  a  campaign 
determined  and  thorough.  The  most  serious  loss  was 
incurred  in  the  great  swamp  fight,  and  the  valor  of  the 
soldiers  was  thus  described  by  the  General  Assembly: 

There  died  many  brave  officers  and  sentinels  whose  memory 
is  blessed,  and  whose  death  redeemed  our  lives.  The  bitter  cold, 
the  tarled  swamp,  the  tedious  march,  the  strong  fort,  the  numer- 
ous and  stubborn  enemy  they  contended  with,  for  their  God, 
King,  country,  be  their  trophies  our  death.  Our  mourners  over 
all  the  colony  witness  for  our  men  that  they  were  not  unfaithful 
in  that  day. 

Despite  all  that  has  been  said  to  disparage  the  treatment 
the  Indians  received  at  the  hands  of  the  whites,  the  careful 
student  of  the  times  must  admit  that  it  was  fair.  In  the 
nature  of  the  case  there  were  cases  of  meanness,  cruelty,  and 
revenge.  There  were  men,  who,  after  seeing  wife  and  chil- 
dren butchered  in  cold  blood  in  midnight  assault,  spent  the 
remainder  of  their  days  in  killing  with  a  kind  of  mania, 
a  method  which  partook  of  the  severity  of  the  savage  race, 
and  there  were  many  whites  who  fell  below  the  purpose  which 
filled  the  minds  of  some  of  the  noblest  of  the  Puritans  when 


50  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

they  came  hither:  "the  glory  of  God,  and  the  everlasting 
welfare  of  these  poore,  naked  sonnes  of  Adam."  But  there 
were  efforts  made  to  teach  and  evangelize  them.  In  1650, 
the  colony  made  some  provision  for  their  religious  education. 
In  1654,  the  General  Court,  lamenting  that  so  little  had 
been  done  through  want  of  an  able  interpreter,  ordered 
that  Thomas  Myner  of  Pequot  (New  London)  send  his  son 
John  to  Hartford  "where  this  Court  will  provide  for  his 
maintenance  and  schooling,  to  the  end  that  he  may  be,  for 
the  present,  assistant  to  interpret  the  things  of  God  to  them 
as  he  shall  be  directed."  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson  of  Bran- 
ford  learned  the  Indian  language  and  preached  to  the  Indi- 
ans; Fitch  and  Narber  did  likewise.  Gookin  and  John 
Eliot  entered  the  colony  for  the  same  purpose,  but  only  the 
scantiest  results  followed.  In  1657,  John  Eliot,  "the  apostle 
to  the  Indians,"  was  in  Hartford  at  a  coimcil  of  minis- 
ters, and  desiring  to  preach  to  the  natives,  some  of  the 
Podunks  across  the  river  were  gathered  to  listen  to  him. 
He  spoke  to  them  in  their  own  language,  and  when  they 
were  urged  to  become  Christians,  they  answered  angrily, 
saying  that  the  English  had  taken  away  their  land  and  now 
they  were  attempting  to  make  the  Podunks  their  servants. 
It  is  not  strange  that  men  who  were  addicted  to  war,  revenge, 
and  laziness  should  have  foimd  little  in  the  Bible  to  please 
them.  The  friendly  and  patient  Rev.  James  Fitch  of  Nor- 
wich did  everything  in  his  power  to  Christianize  the  Mohi- 
cans, preaching  to  them  in  1671,  and  later,  but  he  was 
forced  to  admit  that  "Uncas  and  Owenico  at  first  carried  it 
teachably  and  tractably,  till  they  discerned  that  practical 
religion  would  throw  down  their  heathenish  idols,  and  the 
tyrannical  authority  of  the  sachems;  then  they  went  away 
and  threw  off  their  people,  some  by  flatteries,  some  by 
threats."  Embittered  by  their  poverty  and  misery  before 
the  advancing  prosperity  of  the  English,  the  Indians  were 
in  no  mood  to  receive,  with  the  humility  required,  the  teach- 
ings of  their  conquerors,  though  the  commissioners  of  the 


A  Pastoral  Scene  in  Woodstock.     Pulpit  Rock  in  Foreground,  from  which  John 
Eliot  Preached  to  the  Indians  in  1670 


•    (''■     >>>  "     'N  ""l       Y    *'     \ 


Bissell's  Ferry  in  Windsor,  in  Continuous  Operation  since  about  1645 

Redrawn  from  an  Old  Print 


W^ars  "witK  tKe  Indians  51 

United  Colonies  voted  money  for  their  education  in  New- 
Haven.  Stone,  Newton,  and  Hooker  taught  in  Farmington 
an  Indian  school  from  1648,  to  1697,  and  further  records  of 
the  school  are  dated  1733-36.  At  one  time  there  were 
fifteen  Tunxis  Indians  in  the  school,  and  in  the  list  of  church 
members  of  the  Farmington  church  are  the  names  of  Solomon 
Mossock,  admitted  June,  1763,  and  Eimice  Mossock,  ad- 
mitted in  September,  1765.  In  1728,  a  grandson  of  Captain 
John  Mason  taught  the  Mohicans  English  and  religion, 
receiving  for  his  services  fifteen  pounds,  and  in  1727,  a  law 
was  passed  ordering  masters  and  mistresses  to  teach  their 
Indian  servants  to  read  English,  and  also  the  Christian 
faith  by  catechizing  them,  under  a  penalty  of  not  over  forty 
shillings.  In  1733,  the  legislature  made  an  appropriation 
for  the  Indian  school  at  Farmington,  and  in  1736,  contribu- 
tions for  Indian  education  were  ordered  from  the  churches 
at  the  next  Thanksgiving. 

The  most  celebrated  school  for  the  Indians  was  the 
"Moor  Indian  Charity  School"  in  Lebanon.  Samson 
Occum,  who  had  been  converted  in  1740,  in  the  Great  Awak- 
ening, applied  to  Rev.  Eleazer  Wheelock,  the  pastor  in 
Lebanon,  who  began  preaching  to  the  Indians  in  1735;  the 
application  was  made  in  1745,  and  for  three  years  the  young 
Mohican  received  instruction  from  Wheelock.  In  1754, 
Joshua  Moor  left,  after  death,  his  house  and  two  acres  for 
a  school.  Wheelock  gathered  pupils  in  that  house,  beginning, 
in  1754,  with  two  Dela wares;  soon  others  followed.  In 
1762,  there  were  over  twenty:  one  Mohican,  six  Mohawks, 
and  the  rest  Delawares.  Contributions  came  in  from 
various  quarters.  Four  Indian  girls  were  taught  sewing 
and  housework.  Occum  was  ordained  by  the  presbytery 
of  Suffolk  Long  Island  in  1759,  and  he  became  a  suc- 
cessful preacher  to  his  people,  though  it  is  painful  to  be 
obliged  to  say  that  this  lonely  and  comparatively  respecta- 
ble product  of  Christianity  among  the  Indians  vibrated 
between   drunkenness   and  repentance.     Thackeray  would 


52  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

say  that  he  wept  over  his  sins  until  he  grew  thirsty,  then 
drank  again. 

Like  similar  schools  in  later  days,  the  treasury  was  usually 
empty,  and  in  1766,  Occum  and  Nathanael  Whitaker  went 
to  Great  Britain  for  money.  The  presence  of  the  Mohican 
there  made  a  decided  sensation,  and  there  were  large  contri- 
butions to  the  Lebanon  school;  the  king  gave  two  hundred 
pounds.  Lord  Dartmouth  fifty  pounds,  and  soon  seven 
thousand  pounds  was  gathered  from  England  and  two 
thousand  from  Scotland.  In  1770,  the  school  moved  to 
some  lands  that  were  opening  in  Hanover,  New  Hampshire, 
and  it  became  the  foundation  of  Dartmouth  College.  Here 
and  there  the  Indians  lingered  in  Connecticut,  with  an 
occasional  "praying  Indian"  like  good  old  Mamousin  of 
the  Mattabesetts,  but  most  of  them  were  ignorant,  poor,  de- 
graded, and  licentious — miserable  relics  of  a  barbarous  race. 

This  story  from  that  stern,  fierce  age  is  too  bloody  to 
be  romantic,  too  bitter  and  cruel  to  be  proud  of,  too  sad  to 
dwell  upon  longer.  It  is  a  story  of  courage  and  daring  on 
both  sides.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  Indians  should  have 
hated  the  English,  when  they  saw  their  hunting-grounds 
vanishing.  Nothing  short  of  miracles  could  have  prevented 
injustice  and  ill-feeling.  The  destruction  of  the  Pequots 
and  the  Narragansetts  has  been  stigmatized  as  cruel  by 
critics,  sitting  in  their  studies  or  on  their  verandas,  but 
there  was  only  one  issue — to  destroy  or  be  destroyed.  The 
struggle  had  to  come,  soon  or  late.  Indians,  wolves,  and 
panthers  were  doomed  to  death  or  exile.  The  work  of 
extermination  was  done  in  a  grim  age,  thoroughly,  save  for 
a  few  that  yielded  to  the  civilizing  influences  so  patiently 
exerted:  some  went  to  newer  parts  of  the  country;  some 
stayed  in  Connecticut  communities,  as  slaves  or  thievish, 
drunken  remnants  of  a  race  in  which  civilization  found  thin 
soil.  The  descendants  now  living  in  the  state  are  hardly 
enough  to  count. 


CHAPTER  VI 
FORMING  THE  GOVERNMENT 

THE  process  of  establishing  a  government  over  a  new  state 
by  men  of  such  decided  ideas  and  keen  consciences 
was  a  difficult  one,  and  they  could  not  take  the  mother 
colony  of  Massachusetts  as  a  model  in  every  respect  because, 
as  we  have  seen,  their  settlement  on  the  Connecticut  was 
due  in  part  to  a  protest  against  the  methods  of  the  Bay  State. 
New  ground  had  to  be  broken  in  the  forming  of  constitution 
and  laws,  and  the  process  was  necessarily  one  of  evolution. 
As  soon  as  the  sharp  collision  with  the  Pequots  was  over, 
the  able  men,  with  whom  the  young  commonwealth  was 
well  supplied,  addressed  themselves  resolutely  to  the  task 
of  establishing  a  system  of  laws  which  would  make  perma- 
nent and  secure  the  principles  which  had  led  to  the  migration. 
It  is  impossible  to  understand  the  early  conditions 
without  taking  notice  of  the  fact  that  Springfield  was  settled 
at  the  same  time  with  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield. 
In  1635,  William  Pynchon,  the  principal  man  of  Roxbury, 
Massachusetts,  with  the  main  body  of  the  church  and  com- 
munity, followed  the  Indian  trail,  the  famous  Bay  Path, 
westward  until  he  reached  Agawam  or  Springfield,  at  the 
intersection  of  a  trail  north  and  south, — a  convenient  center 
for  trade  in  furs;  and  near  Enfield  Falls,  Pynchon  built  a 
warehouse,  at  a  place  now  called  Warehouse  Point,  conve- 
nient for  the  Agawam  settlers.  From  the  first,  the  emi- 
grants on  the  Connecticut  were  recognized  as  four  distinct 

^    53 


54  -A.  History  of  Connecticvjit 

companies,  and  William  Pynchon  and  Henry  Smith  repre- 
sented the  Roxbury  party. 

There  is  one  thing  to  be  made  clear  at  this  point  and  that 
is  that  the  towns  did  not  migrate  as  towns;  not  one  half  of 
the  Dorchester  people  went  to  Connecticut;  of  the  ten 
townsmen  elected  in  1634,  ^^^Y  three  went;  of  the  nine 
elected  in  1635,  only  three  went,  and  of  the  thirteen  later, 
only  four  migrated.  There  is  nothing  in  the  records  to 
indicate  a  removal  or  reorganization.  The  assessment  lists 
of  Massachusetts  contain  the  names  of  Newtowne,  Dor- 
chester, and  Watertown  after  1636.  Companies  from  those 
towns  migrated  and  not  towns.  In  each  of  the  three  settle- 
ments on  the  Connecticut  there  was  the  embryo  of  a  town, 
which  in  four  years  came  into  organization,  having  of  course 
local  management  from  the  first,  but  the  government  was 
purely  democratic,  and  not  the  government  of  an  independ- 
ent town.  The  settlements  were  forced  to  form  a  provi- 
sional government  early,  for  the  dreams  of  trading  with  the 
Indians  as  a  lucrative  line  of  business  in  addition  to  farming 
soon  changed  into  the  stark  proposition  of  fighting  the 
fiercest  tribe  in  New  England.  The  agricultural  settlements 
changed  into  armed  camps,  and  farmers  into  soldiers. 

The  first  government  was  provisional,  and  was  under 
the  authority  of  Massachusetts,  which  gave  her  first  recog- 
nition of  the  Connecticut  plantations  in  June,  1635,  ap- 
pointing one  of  the  settlers  as  constable,  "sworn  constable 
of  the  plantations,  till  some  other  be  chosen."  Three 
months  later,  permission  was  given  by  the  mother  colony 
for  the  loan  of  military  stores,  and  the  election  by  each 
plantation  of  its  own  constable,  who  was  to  be  sworn  in  by  a 
magistrate  of  the  Bay  Colony.  The  constable  was  a  com- 
mander of  militia,  and  the  first  organization  was  for  defense. 
When  Massachusetts  was  forced  to  allow  the  churches  to 
emigrate,  the  Newtowne  church  came  to  Hartford  in  the 
spring  of  1636,  with  its  two  ministers,  and  a  new  stage  of 
organization  began.     It  is  clear  that  the  church  organiza- 


Forming  tKe  Government  55 

tion  did  not  coincide  then  with  the  town  organization ;  it 
certainly  did  not  in  Wethersfield,  where  seven  men  consti- 
tuted the  legal  church,  while  there  were  more  than  fifty 
in  the  plantation.  At  a  later  time  town  and  church  were 
one,  but  at  first  the  township  was  broader  than  the  parish. 

In  March,  1636,  the  Massachusetts  Court  instituted  a 
provisional  government  under  a  commission,  or  in  the  quaint 
words  of  the  time,  "graunted  to  severall  prsons  to  goveme 
the  People  att  Connecticott  fr  the  Space  of  a  Yeare  nowe 
nexte  comeing,"  and  it  ordered  that  Roger  Ludlowe,  Esquire, 
William  Pynchon,  Esquire,  John  Steele,  William  Swaine, 
Henry  Smith,  William  Phelps,  William  Westwood,  and  An- 
drew Ward,  "or  the  greatr  pte  of  them  shall  haue  full  power 
and  aucthoritie."  It  was  a  court  for  the  investigation  of 
questions  that  might  arise,  and  for  the  decision  of  all  public 
matters  pertaining  to  the  settlements.  This  was  the  first 
General  Court,  and  its  authority  came  from  the  mother 
colony,  which  expected  these  eight  magistrates  to  issue 
decrees  and  govern  the  towns.  This  Court  met  eight  times 
between  April  26,  1636,  and  May  i,  1637,  Agawam  not  being 
represented  until  the  fifth  meeting  on  November  i,  1636. 
The  Massachusetts  Court  provided  that  after  the  close  of  a 
year  for  which  the  eight  commissioners  were  appointed, 
there  could  be  held  a  convention  of  the  inhabitants  "to  any 
convenient  place  that  they  shall  think  meet,  in  a  legal  and 
open  manner  by  way  of  court."  It  came  to  pass  that  on 
March  3,  1637,  Connecticut  ceased  to  acknowledge  political 
dependence  on  Massachusetts,  and  in  the  next  Court  the 
people  were  represented  by  committees  to  the  number  of 
nine  men,  who  were  present  with  the  magistrates  at  the 
session  of  May  i,  1637,  to  take  action  concerning  the  Pequots, 
the  additional  men  being  called  to  act  with  the  magistrates 
on  account  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  Under  this 
arrangement  the  Connecticut  people  were  governed  for 
three  years,  war  being  undertaken,  troops  equipped,  heavy 
taxes  levied  and  collected  and  the  Pequots  destroyed,  with 


56  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

but  little  help  from  Massachusetts.  The  inhabitants 
signed  a  written  compact  of  local  government  May  14,  1636, 
and  by  action  of  the  court  which  met  in  February,  1637, 
Newtowne  became  Hartford,  Watertown  Wethersfield, 
and  Dorchester  Windsor.  The  basis  of  this  government 
was  the  assumed  consent  of  the  grantees  under  the  alleged 
Warwick  patent,  represented  by  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  rather 
than  on  any  inherent  authority  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony. 

One  of  the  earliest  acts  of  the  court  was  to  declare 
officially  that  the  government  of  the  towns  was  determined 
by  the  constables — the  military  officers,  with  cannon,  watch, 
and  train-band,  and  this  was  done  in  April,  1636,  when  it 
was  voted  that  the  three  plantations  could  each  appoint  a 
constable.  It  thus  appears  that  the  towns  drew  their 
authority  from  the  government  established  by  Massachu- 
setts, and  this  Court  went  on  to  boimd  and  name  settlements, 
increase  the  powers  for  self-support  and  defense,  and  legally 
organize  the  church  in  Wethersfield.  Hartford  was  more 
advanced  than  the  other  plantations,  and  was  probably 
first  to  establish  a  town  organization,  which  was  started  in 
December,  1639.  There  is  no  evidence  of  official  organiza- 
tion in  the  towns  in  the  first  years,  and  the  only  officers 
were  probably  a  constable,  collector,  and  commissioner  for 
each  town,  selected  by  the  central  authority.  In  short, 
there  was  a  provisional  government  in  1636-37,  an  inde- 
pendent government  in  1637-38,  and  a"  regularly  organized 
government  in  1639. 

At  the  court  of  March  8,  1637,  Pynchon  and  Smith  rep- 
resented Agawam,  and  again  at  the  court  of  March  28, 
1638;  a  tax  for  the  Pequot  war  was  levied  upon  the  up-river 
settlement,  the  separation  of  which  from  the  others  came 
in  1638,  being  hastened  by  a  business  difficulty.  The  General 
Court  gave  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  with  the  Indians  to 
Pynchon,  on  condition  that  he  supply  Connecticut  with  five 
hundred  bushels  of  com  at  five  shillings  a  bushel.     A  bitter 


Forming  tHe  Govemmetit  57 

controversy  followed,  as  Pynchon  was  charged  with  bad 
faith,  and  was  fined  forty  bushels  of  com,  but  an  olive  branch 
was  offered  him  in  the  shape  of  a  monopoly  of  the  beaver 
trade.  The  four  towns  evidently  worked  together  through 
the  fall  of  1648,  for  an  Agawam  culprit  was  then  punished 
by  the  General  Court,  and  Hooker  spoke  in  the  fall  of  that 
year  of  magistrates  from  the  four  towns.     On  January  14, 

1639,  the  court  met,  but  Agawam  had  no  part  in  it,  and 
two  days  later,  the  fine  was  demanded  of  Pynchon.  Mas- 
sachusetts hesitated  to  take  Agawam,  which  seemed  as  far 
away  as  the  Philippines  do  now;  Cotton  Mather  expressed 
the  opinion  many  held  in  Massachusetts  of  the  settlements 
on  the  Connecticut  when  he  said  that  "worthy,  learned  and 
genteel  persons  were  going  to  bury  themselves  alive  on  the 
banks  of  the  Connecticut."  The  colonists  decided  the 
question  for  themselves  and  on  February  14,  1639,  Agawam 
voted  to  cast  in  her  lot  with  Massachusetts,  and  on  April  16, 

1640,  it  was  voted  to  wipe  out  the  Connecticut  name  and 
"call  the  plantation  Springfield."  It  was  several  years 
before  the  matter  was  entirely  settled;  Haynes  and  Hooker 
went  to  Boston  to  propose  a  renewal  of  the  treaty,  though 
nothing  came  of  it,  and  it  was  ten  years  before  Springfield 
delegates  were  received  at  the  court  at  Boston. 

The  earliest  place  for  the  assembling  of  the  court  may 
have  been  at  the  home  of  one  of  the  magistrates,  and  after 
a  little  while  at  the  meeting-house,  probably  not  far  from  the 
site  of  the  Hartford  Post-ojffice.  Some  have  held  that  the 
place  of  assembling  until  1661,  was  in  an  upper  room  in 
the  meeting-house,  but  others  have  insisted  that  since  that 
room  was  but  ten  feet  square  it  is  improbable  that  such  was 
the  case.  There  is  no  certain  information  on  the  subject  of 
the  meeting  place  until  September,  1661,  when  the  General 
Court  took  up  its  abode  for  nearly  fifty  years  in  Jeremy 
Adams's  tavern,  which  was  situated  on  a  lot  of  two  or  three 
acres  south  of  "Meeting  house  Yard,"  a  little  south  of 
the  present  City  Hall  Square.     There  was  a  well  on  the 


58  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

north  of  the  lot  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  from 
Main  Street,  and  the  tavern  stood  fifty  or  sixty  feet  back  of 
the  well.  There  is  a  record  of  1661,  that  "  Jer.  Adams  hath 
mortgaged  his  house  and  home  lot  whch.  he  bought  of  John 
Mouice  with  all  other  ye  buildings  erected  thereon  since  his 
Purchase  (unto  Capt.  John  Talcott  as  Treasurer  to  Con- 
necticut Collony),"  and  in  the  Colonial  Records  of  May, 
1662,  "It  is  granted  and  ordered  by  this  court  upon  the 
motion  and  desire  of  Jeremiah  Adams  that  ye  house  that 
the  said  Jeremy  doth  now  possess  and  improve  for  an  Ordin- 
ary, or  house  of  common  entertainment,  shalbe  and  remaine 
to  ye  said  Jeremie  and  his  successors,  provided  as  hereafter 
expressed."  This  license  was  perpetual,  obligatory,  and 
irrevocable,  and  the  colony  was  mortgagee  of  the  tavern. 
Among  the  requirements  aside  from  the  usual  "accom- 
modation and  provision  for  the  entertainment  of  Travellers 
with  horse  and  otherwise  and  that  both  respecting  wine  and 
liquors  and  other  provision  for  food  and  comfortable  refresh- 
ing, both  for  man  and  beast,"  was  this,  that  Adams  was  to 
provide  "a  chamber  for  the  meeting  of  the  court,  furnished 
with  chairs  and  tables,  a  large  leather  chair  and  carpet,  with 
accommodation  for  forty  or  fifty  people."  In  that  court 
chamber  the  committee  of  the  Indian  Court  met  in  1678; 
there  laws  were  enacted  to  establish  new  towns  and  settle 
difficulties  in  older  ones;  to  provide  for  taxes  for  King 
Philip's  war  and  guard  against  the  dreaded  Quakers;  to 
settle  estates  and  allay  church  quarrels;  to  arrange  treaties 
with  Indians  and  determine  the  policy  toward  England  and 
the  other  colonies;  to  decide  on  post  roads  and  decree  the 
ordinances  of  trade  and  commerce.  There  Winthrop  de- 
scribed his  brilliant  success  with  Charles  II.,  and  there  it  is 
probable  was  held  the  controversy  with  Andros  over  the 
charter  and  the  government  of  the  colony. 

Jeremy  Adams  died  in  1684,  and  the  following  year  the 
court  appointed  a  committee  to  make  sale  of  the  house 
and  lot,  authorized  the  treasurer  to  sign  the  deed  of  sale, 


rorming  tKe  Govemnnent  59 

indicating  that  the  colony  was  proprietor  in  fee;  on 
December  2,  1685,  the  lot  was  conveyed  by  the  treasurer  to 
Zachary  Sanford,  grandson  of  Jeremy  Adams,  and  the  court 
continued  to  sit  in  the  court  chamber  of  the  tavern.  In 
1 7 13,  Landlord  Sanford  died,  and  by  his  will  the  tavern  and 
home  lot  passed  to  his  daughter  Sarah  and  her  husband, 
Jonathan  Bunce.  The  tavern  had  grown  dilapidated,  and 
soon  after  the  death  of  Sanford  the  court  moved  to  the  new 
tavern  of  Caleb  Williamson,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
old  Travelers'  Building.  As  the  colony  advanced  in  wealth 
and  importance,  it  became  evident  that  more  suitable  pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  the  General  Court,  and  in  October, 
171 7,  the  Colonial  Records  tell  us  it  was  voted  "that  a 
•quantity  of  the  imgranted  lands  of  the  Colony  be  sold  to 
procure"  six  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  for  a  state-house, 
besides  money  for  county  court-houses.  A  year  later  it  was 
voted  to  allow  five  hundred  pounds  toward  the  state-house, 
and  a  building  committee  was  appointed  to  consist  of  Wil- 
liam Pitkin,  Joseph  Talcott,  and  Aaron  Cook.  In  1719,  it 
was  voted  that  this  committee 

with  all  convenient  speed  proceed  to  carry  on  said  building  ac- 
cording to  the  dimensions  given  or  agreed  upon  by  this  As- 
sembly, viz.  70  foot  in  length,  30  foot  in  width,  and  24  foot 
between  joynts  &  that  in  pursuance  thereof  the  said  committee 
are  ordered  to  receive  of  the  committees  appointed  for  the  sale 
of  land  the  sum  of  500  pounds,  which  the  said  committees  are 
hereby  ordered  to  pay  to  the  said  committee  for  building  the 
State  House :  and  that  the  county  of  Hartford  shall  pay  toward 
the  finishing  of  said  State  House  the  sum  of  250  pounds,  and  it 
shall  be  requisite  to  the  finishing  said  house,  which  sum  this  As- 
sembly impower  the  judges  of  the  county  court  of  Hartford  to 
levy  upon  the  polls,  and  what  is  wanting,  draw  on  the  public 
Treasury. 

The  further  specifications  of  the  building  were  as  follows : 

With  a  range  of  pillars  under  the  middle  of  the  beams  of  the 
chamber  floor,  a  door  on  each  side,  &  at  each  end,  a  staircase  at 


6o  ■   A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

the  south-west,  and  another  at  the  south-east  corner ;  two  cham- 
bers of  30  foot  long  at  each  end,  one  for  the  Council  and  another 
for  the  Representatives,  with  a  space  of  12  foot  between  the  2 
houses,  and  a  staircase  into  the  garrets,  and  on  either  side  a 
lobby  to  the  council  chamber  will  serve  the  occasions  designed 
by  the  Assembly. 

This  building  stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  square,  near 
Main  Street,  and  it  had  a  gambrel  roof.  In  1 792,  the  General 
Assembly  appointed  a  committee  to  build  a  state-house  of 
brick,  and  Hartford  county  bore  part  of  the  expense  that  it 
might  have  a  room  in  the  building  for  its  courts.  This 
well-known  state-house  was  completed  in  1795,  and  was  in 
use  by  the  Assembly  from  1796,  to  1878.  The  present  state- 
house  was  completed  in  January,  1880,  and  it  is  upon  a  site 
bought  by  the  city  of  Trinity  College.  The  cost  of  erec- 
tion was  three  million  three  himdred  and  forty-two  thousand 
dollars,  and  it  is  the  custom  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  it 
was  finished  within  the  appropriation. 

The  place  of  meeting  in  New  Haven  for  the  legislature 
was  the  meeting-house;  in  1717,  the  first  county  house 
was  built  on  the  northwest  of  the  Green,  to  accommo- 
date the  General  Court  and  also  the  Superior  and  County 
Courts.  In  1763,  a  state-house  of  brick  was  built  be- 
tween Center  and  Trinity  churches;  in  1827,  the  imposing 
structure  west  of  the  Center  Church,  modeled  after  the 
Parthenon,  was  erected,  and  was  in  use  imtil  1875,  after 
which  Hartford  became  the  sole  place  of  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly.  The  salary  of  the  early  governors  was 
modest,  since  on  November  9,  1641,  it  was  ordered  "that 
one  hundred  and  sixty  bushels  of  Come  shall  be  sent  in  by 
the  County  to  the  Governor,  to  be  levied  upon  the  towns  by 
the  proportion  of  the  last  vote."  Four  years  later  the  salary 
was  thirty  pounds  in  "wheat,  pease  and  corne." 

We  do  not  know  when  the  settlers  of  the  three  towns 
discovered  that  they  were  not  within  the  limits  of  Massa- 
chusetts, but  on  January  24,  1639,  the  fathers  of  the  colony 


ii 


_    3 
c 

•S  ^ 


1 


Forming  tHe  Government  6i 

met  at  Hartford,  either  in  a  popular  gathering  as  Trumbull 
says,  or  through  the  Court,  which  is  more  probable,  and 
drew  up  a  form  of  government  for  the  colony,  a  system 
similar  to  that  of  Massachusetts,  except  that  it  came  into 
shape  at  one  time,  instead  of  through  a  course  of  years. 
The  "Orders"  have  been  called  a  "Constitution,"  but  they 
were  more  like  statute  law,  for  they  contained  no  provision 
for  amendment,  and  when  amended  later,  it  was  through 
the  ordinary  process  of  legislative  action.  It  was  really  a 
plantation  covenant  with  the  addition  of  eleven  legislative 
statutes. 

The  seed  of  the  Connecticut  government  was  in  a  sermon 
preached  by  Hooker,  May  31,  1638,  of  which  Henry  Wolcott, 
Jr.,  of  Windsor  took  notes,  and  from  those  notes  we  learn 
that  the  Hartford  minister  laid  down  the  doctrine:  I.  That 
the  choice  of  public  magistrates  belongs  unto  the  people  by 
God's  own  allowance.  H.  The  privilege  of  election  must 
be  exercised  according  to  the  blessed  will  and  law  of  God. 
in.  Those  who  have  power  to  appoint  officers  and  magis- 
trates have  also  power  to  set  the  bounds  and  limitations  of 
the  power  and  place  unto  which  they  call  them.  The  rea- 
sons are  as  follows :  i ,  Because  the  foundation  of  authority 
is  laid  in  the  free  consent  of  the  people.  2.  Because  by  a 
free  choice  the  people  will  be  more  ready  to  yield  obedience. 
3,    Because  of  the  duty  and  engagement  of  the  people. 

The  lesson  taught  is  threefold,  i.  Thankfulness  to  God 
for  his  faithfulness  in  permitting  these  measures.  2.  Of 
reproof — to  dash  the  counsels  of  opposers,  3,  Of  exhorta- 
tion— to  persuade  us,  as  God  hath  given  us  liberty,  to  take 
it.  4,  Lastly,  as  God  hath  spared  our  lives,  and  given  us 
them  in  liberty,  so  to  seek  the  guidance  of  God,  and  to 
choose  in  God  and  for  God.  There  is  no  reference  in  the 
sermon  to  the  king  of  England,  no  sign  of  deference  to  any 
class,  every  one  exercising  his  rights  "according  to  the 
blessed  will  and  law  of  God,"  and  to  hold  himself  responsible 
to  God  alone. 


62  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

Seven  months  after  Hooker's  sermon,  the  people  of  the 
three  plantations  met  in  Hartford,  on  January  14,  1639, 
and  put  into  form  Hooker's  teachings  for  the  orderly  govern- 
ment of  the  settlements  on  the  river,  "the  first  example  in 
history  of  a  written  constitution,  a  distinct  organic  law  con- 
stituting a  government  and  defining  its  powers."  The 
three  settlements  regarded  themselves  as  one  people,  one 
sovereignty,  and,  as  all  the  writers  agree,  the  Fundamental 
Orders  were  adopted  at  a  mass-meeting  of  all  the  people. 
It  is  significant  that  the  framers  of  this  constitution — Hooker 
with  his  passion  for  democracy,  Haynes  with  his  liberal 
spirit,  and  Ludlow  with  his  profound  legal  knowledge  and 
insight — arranged  that  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  people 
be  given  up  and  vested  in  the  General  Court,  declaring  that 
since  the  inhabitants  of  the  three  settlements  are  dwelling 
together  on  the  Connecticut,  and  the  Bible  requires  peace 
and  union,  therefore, 

we  do  associate  and  conjoin  ourselves  to  be  one  public  state  or 
COMMONWEALTH ;  and  do,  for  ourselves  and  our  successors,  and 
such  as  shall  be  adjoined  to  us  at  any  time  hereafter,  enter 
into  combination  and  confederation  together  to  maintain  and 
preserve  the  purity  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus;  as  also  in 
our  civil  affairs  to  be  guided  and  governed  according  to  such 
laws,  rules,  orders  and  decrees,  as  shall  be  made,  ordered  and 
decreed,  as  followeth: 

first,  the  state  consists  of  towns,  each  town  regulating,  to  a 
certain  extent,  its  own  affairs  as  a  pure  democracy;  secondly, 
elections  in  the  state  are  annual,  all  powers  going  back  to 
the  people  once  in  every  year;  thirdly,  legislation  is  by  the 
representatives  of  towns,  acting  coordinately  with  another 
body  of  men  chosen  by  the  people  at  large;  fourthly,  the 
judicial  and  executive  powers  are  distinguished  from  the 
legislative,  though  committed  to  men  having  a  share  in 
legislation.  Later,  a  distinction  was  made  between  the 
judiciary  and  the  other  branches,  but  this  was  not  required 


Forming  tHe  Government  63 

in  the  infancy  of  the  government,  when  it  was  natural  and 
safe  to  identify  judiciary  and  executive.  The  following 
are  the  provisions  of  the  Fundamental  Orders  of  1639: 

1.  The  right  of  suffrage  was  broad.  Neither  the  pos- 
session of  real  estate,  nor  the  payment  of  a  tax,  nor  the 
performance  of  military  duty,  was  placed  among  the  qualifi- 
cations of  a  voter.  The  choice  of  magistrates  was  to  be 
"made  by  all  that  are  admitted  freemen,  and  have  taken 
the  oath  of  fidelity,"  living  within  the  jurisdiction,  "and 
admitted  inhabitants  by  the  major  part  of  the  town,  or  by 
the  major  part  of  such  as  shall  be  then  present."  It  was 
not  universal  suffrage,  but  near  it. 

2.  The  executive  and  judicial  power  was  vested  in  a 
governor,  and  at  least  six  assistant  magistrates ;  to  be  elected 
on  the  second  Tuesday  in  April,  annually.  No  person  could 
be  elected  governor  who  was  not  "a  member  of  some  ap- 
proved congregation,"  or  who  had  not  formerly  been  a 
magistrate  within  the  jurisdiction,  nor  could  any  person 
be  governor  oftener  than  once  in  two  years.  The  only 
qualification  for  the  magistracy  was  that  the  persons  chosen 
should  be  "freemen  of  this  commonwealth." 

3.  Elections  were  held  in  a  general  assembly  of  all  the 
freemen  of  the  colony.  Magistrates  were  chosen  thus:  At 
a  preceding  General  Court,  within  the  year,  the  names  of 
those  who  were  to  stand  as  candidates  for  the  magistracy 
at  the  ensuing  election  were  propounded  to  the  people  for 
consideration.  This  was  done,  not  by  a  caucus,  or  a  party 
convention,  but  every  town  had  the  power  of  nominating, 
by  its  deputies,  any  two  names,  and  the  General  Court 
could  add  to  the  nomination  at  its  own  discretion.  On 
election  day  the  secretary  read  the  names  of  all  who  were 
to  be  voted  for;  after  that,  every  name  was  voted  upon  by 
ballot,  a  paper  with  any  writing  on  it  being  an  affirmative 
vote,  and  a  blank  paper  negative.  Every  person  was 
voted  for  in  turn.  If  at  the  close,  six,  in  addition  to  the 
governor,  had  not  received  majorities,  six  should  be  made 


64  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

up  by  taking  the  one  or  more  for  whom  the  greatest  number 
of  votes  had  been  cast. 

4.  The  legislature  consisted  of  the  governor  and  his 
assistants  in  the  magistracy,  together  with  the  representa- 
tives of  the  towns.  Each  of  the  three  towns  included  in  the 
jurisdiction  was  empowered  to  send  four  of  its  deputies  to 
the  General  Coiut;  and  the  towns  that  should  afterwards 
be  added  were  to  send  as  many  deputies  as  the  Court  should 
judge  meet  in  view  of  the  number  of  freemen  in  the  new 
towns.  Though  the  deputies  did  not  sit  in  a  different  room 
for  the  transaction  of  ordinary  business,  it  was  provided 
that  they  should  meet  by  themselves  before  the  opening  of 
any  General  Court,  to  judge  of  their  elections,  and  "to  advise 
and  consult  of  all  such  things  as  concern  the  public  good." 

5.  Another  feature  of  this  constitution  is  its  implied 
renunciation  of  the  laws  of  England,  the  common  law  as 
well  as  the  statute  law.  The  magistrates  were  empowered 
"to  administer  justice  according  to  the  laws  here  established, 
and  for  want  thereof  according  to  the  word  of  God."  This 
was  a  prophecy  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  It  has 
been  easy  to  ridicule  this  provision,  but,  since  the  colonists 
had  cut  loose  from  the  mother-country,  with  its  royal 
government,  prelacy,  and  liturgy,  and  had  gone  beyond  the 
reach  of  laws  which  had  been  trying,  the  freemen  determined 
that  not  even  common  law  should  burden  them  without 
express  enactment,  and  to  prevent  the  necessity  of  falling 
back  on  the  common  law  in  cases  where  no  express  statute 
had  been  enacted,  the  magistrates  were  to  administer  justice 
according  to  the  principles  of  equity  laid  down  in  a  book  of 
universal  authority — the  Bible. 

6.  The  religious  cast  of  this  constitution,  its  connection 
with  the  religious  opinions  and  institutions  of  those  who 
framed  it,  appears  in  the  preamble,  which  asserts  that  the 
end  of  the  commonwealth  is  "to  maintain  and  preserve  the 
liberty  and  purity  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  which  we 
now  profess,  as  also  the  discipline  of  the  churches,  which, 


Forming  tHe  Government  65 

according  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  is  now  practiced  among 
us."  More  explicit  is  the  provision,  which  requires  that 
the  governor  be  "a  member  of  some  approved  congregation 
within  the  jurisdiction."  In  Massachusetts  and  New 
Haven,  only  church  members  could  have  political  power, 
and  the  breadth  and  freedom  of  the  "Orders"  of  Connecticut 
were  due  to  men  like  Thomas  Hooker,  John  Haynes,  and 
Roger  Ludlow. 

It  remains  to  notice  the  provision  by  which  this  primitive 
constitution  wmild  secure  its  own  perpetuity,  and  keep  the 
supreme  power  inalienably  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  In 
all  ordinary  cases,  the  General  Court,  of  which  there  were 
to  be  two  sessions  annually,  was  to  be  convened  by  the 
governor,  sending  out  a  summons  to  the  constables  of  every 
town,  upon  which  they  were  to  call  upon  the  inhabitants  to 
elect  their  representatives.  The  governor  was  also  em- 
powered to  convoke  a  special  session  of  the  Court  on  any 
emergency,  with  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  magistrates. 
But  if,  through  the  neglect  or  refusal  of  the  governor  and 
magistrates,  the  General  Court  should  not  be  convoked, 
either  at  the  stated  time  of  meeting,  or  at  other  times  when 
required  by  "the  occasions  of  the  commonwealth,"  then 
the  freemen,  or  a  major  part  of  them,  might  call  on  the 
magistracy  by  petition  to  perform  its  duty;  and  if  that 
petition  should  be  ineffectual,  then  the  freemen,  or  the 
major  part  of  them,  might  give  order  to  the  several  towns, 
which  order  should  have  the  same  validity  as  if  it  proceeded 
from  the  governor.  And  the  Court  thus  convened,  without 
a  governor  and  without  magistrates,  should  consist  of  the 
major  part  of  the  freemen  present  or  their  deputies, 
with  a  moderator  chosen  by  them;  and  the  General  Court 
so  constituted  should  have  "the  supreme  power  of  the 
commonwealth,"  including,  among  other  things,  "power  to 
call  in  question  courts,  magistrates,  or  any  other  person 
whatsoever,  and  for  just  causes  to  displace  them,  or  deal 
otherwise  according  to  the  nature  of  the  offence."     Thus 


66  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

if  magistrates  should  destroy  the  government,  or  interfere 
with  the  rights  of  the  freemen,  full  provision  was  made  for 
reorganization,  whenever  the  people  should  choose. 

In  August  or  September,  1639,  the  Court  appointed  a 
committee  to  complete  the  town  organization,  and  this  was 
finished  in  October,  and  a  schedule  of  powers  delegated  to 
the  towns  was  adopted  at  that  time,  securing  to  the  people 
of  the  towns  power  to  sell  lands,  choose  officers,  pass  local 
laws,  assess,  tax,  and  distrain,  hold  local  courts  for  minor 
offenses,  to  record  titles,  bonds,  sales,  and  mortgages,  and 
to  manage  the  probate  business  in  the  several  towns.  The 
relation  of  the  towns  to  the  General  Court  was  clearly  de- 
clared by  the  Supreme  Court  in  1864,  when  the  chief  justice 
announced  the  judgment  of  the  Court  as  follows : 

That  extraordinary  instrument  [the  constitution  of  1639]  pur- 
ports on  its  face  to  be  the  work  of  the  people — the  residents  and 
inhabitants  of  the  three  towns.  It  recognizes  the  towns  as 
existing  municipalities,  but  not  as  corporate  or  independent, 
and  makes  no  reservation  expressly  or  impliedly  in  their  favor. 

The  towns  never  failed  to  recognize  the  fact  that  power  ran 
from  the  commonwealth  downward,  and  there  is  no  instance 
of  their  passing  the  bounds  of  the  Court  orders.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Hartford  said,  "If  the 
General  Court  see  cause  to  overrule  in  this  case,  we  must 
submit."  At  first  the  legislature  recommended  to  the 
towns,  and  later  it  did  not  hesitate  to  order. 

To  the  question,  "Did  the  deputies  represent  the  towns 
as  equal  entities,  or  the  body  of  the  freemen  as  a  whole?"  it 
must  be  said  that  in  theory  the  freemen  and  inhabitants 
were  separated  only  by  an  oath  of  allegiance,  which  the 
electors  of  magistrates  and  deputies  were  required  to  take, 
but  in  practice  not  one  half  of  the  men  availed  themselves 
of  the  privilege.  It  was  ordered  that  the  three  original 
towns  should  have  four  deputies  each,  and  that  when  other 
towns  were  formed,  they  were  to  have  as  many  deputies  as 


rormin^  tHe  Government  67 

the  Court  should  judge  meet — a  reasonable  proportion  to  the 
number  of  inhabitants,  indicating  that  the  General  Court 
proposed  to  keep  in  its  own  hands  the  number  of  deputies, 
and  that  the  towns  were  not  to  have  necessarily  an  equal 
number.  Thus  the  deputies,  who  came  to  form  a  lower 
house  in  1698,  were  considered  the  representatives  of  the 
freemen  of  the  colony,  and  no  town  except  the  first  three 
has  ever  sent  more  than  two,  and  since  the  time  when  the 
charter  was  read  before  the  legislature,  even  the  three  river 
towns  have  had  but  two  deputies. 

We  come  now  to  a  consideration  of  citizenship  in  Con- 
necticut towns,  and  the  official  system  that  prevailed.  As 
is  well  known,  the  early  settlers  could  not  agree  to  the  method 
which  prevailed  in  Massachusetts  of  restricting  freemanship 
to  church  members.  It  was  a  radical  and  far-reaching 
principle  that  was  stated  in  the  first  section  of  the  Orders 
of  1639,  that  choice  of  the  governor  and  magistrates  "shall 
be  made  by  all  that  are  admitted  freemen  and  have  taken 
the  oath  of  Fidelity  and  do  cohabit  within  this  jurisdiction 
(having  been  admitted  Inhabitants  by  the  major  part  of  the 
Towne  wherein  they  live  or  the  major  parte  of  such  as  shall 
be  present). "  This  laid  upon  the  different  towns  the  power 
to  regulate  the  admission  of  citizens. 

We  are  to  bear  in  mind  the  close  union  of  church  and 
state,  that  while  in  theory  they  were  separate  in  those  first 
sixty  years,  in  practice  they  were  interwoven,  though  not 
in  the  strict  way  that  prevailed  in  Massachusetts  and  New 
Haven.  It  was  the  opinion  of  the  colony  that  "loathesome 
Heretickes,  whether  Quakers,  Ranters,  Adamites  or  some 
other  like  them, "  had  no  place  in  Connecticut,  though  it 
was  not  until  1656,  that  the  General  Court,  following  the 
recommendations  of  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colo- 
nies, passed  an  order  forbidding  the  towns  to  entertain  such 
people.  But  no  one  became  a  permanent  resident  of  a  town 
tmtil  he  was  admitted  as  inhabitant,  and  transients  found 
scanty  hospitality.     To  say  that  the  suffrage  in  Connecticut 


68  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

was  universal  up  to  1657,  would  be  nearly  correct,  for  free- 
manship  was  conferred  upon  all  above  sixteen  in  a  town  and 
upon  others  who  brought  certificates  of  good  behavior  from 
other  towns;  the  oath  being  administered  in  both  instances. 
This  is  the  more  significant  from  the  fact  that  in  Massa- 
chusetts only  freemen  (chosen  by  the  General  Court)  could 
"have  any  vote  in  any  town  in  any  action  of  authority  or 
necessity,  or  that  which  belongs  to  them  by  virtue  of  their 
freedom,"  which  means,  as  we  have  noticed,  that  only 
about  one-sixth  of  the  inhabitants  there  were  allowed  any 
voice  in  the  business  of  a  town,  though  all  were  taxed. 

In  1657,  there  came  a  change  in  the  passage  of  the  law, 
which  defined  inhabitants  who  were  mentioned  in  the 
seventh  Fundamental  of  1639,  as  householders  that  are  one 
and  twenty  years  old,  or  have  borne  office  or  have  thirty 
pounds  estate.  This  was  a  large  sum  when  ratable  estate 
averaged  about  sixty  pounds  for  every  inhabitant.  But 
why  was  it  that  suffrage  was  restricted  in  1657?  The  colony 
was  losing  faith  in  the  people  as  the  first  generation  passed 
away,  and  more  questionable  immigrants  were  coming  in, 
and  in  1659,  it  was  voted  in  Hartford  that  no  one  was  to  be 
admitted  as  an  inhabitant  "without  it  be  first  consented  to 
by  the  orderly  vote  of  the  inhabitants." 

With  the  narrowing  of  the  elective  franchise,  the  right 
of  voting  for  colonial  officers  was  taken  from  a  number  of 
inhabitants,  though  the  towns  clung  to  their  democratic 
principles  longer  than  the  colony,  and  paid  little  attention 
to  the  order  of  the  Assembly  of  1679,  which  declared  that 
no  one  except  an  admitted  inhabitant,  a  householder,  and  a 
man  of  sober  conversation,  who  had  at  least  fifty  shillings 
freehold  estate,  could  vote  for  town  or  county  officers  or 
for  grants  of  rates  or  lands. 

The  growth  of  the  official  system  in  the  towns  was  after 
this  fashion.  We  have  seen  that  the  first  officer  was  the 
constable,  and  the  first  mention  of  town  officers  is  January 
I,  1638,  when  Hartford  chose  four  townsmen,  and  defined 


Forming  tHe  Government  69 

their  duties,  which  were  soon  widened  to  cover  powers  as  a 
court  for  petty  cases  (for  which  a  separate  body  might  be 
chosen),  supervision  of  estates  of  deceased  persons,  taking 
inventories  of  wills  and  similar  duties.  About  the  same 
time  Hartford,  following  out  the  order  of  the  Court,  elected 
two  constables,  and  in  December,  1639,  gave  the  towns- 
men liberty  to  appoint  two  men  to  "attend  them  in 
such  things  as  they  appoint  about  the  town  affairs  and  be 
paid  at  a  publique  charge."  These  men  were  to  view  the 
fences  about  the  common  fields  when  requested  by  the 
townsmen,  and  to  receive  threepence  an  hour,  and  fourpence 
if  obliged  to  spend  time  repairing.  This  was  to  be  paid  by 
the  owner  of  the  broken  palings.  They  were  to  survey  the 
common  fields,  and  if  any  stray  cattle  or  swine  were  found, 
they  were  to  do  "their  best  to  bring  them  to  the  pound," 
for  which  they  were  to  receive  extra  pay  for  every  animal 
impounded.  They  were  also  to  "warn  people  to  publick 
employment  or  to  gather  some  particular  rates  or  the  like," 
for  which  they  were  to  receive  threepence  an  hour.  We 
have  here  the  germs  of  the  fence- viewer,  hayward  or  bound- 
viewer,  the  public  warner,  and  the  rate-collector.  Highway 
surveyors  had  been  appointed  just  before  this,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  supervise  the  roads.  In  1640,  the  town  officers 
of  Hartford  were  two  constables,  four  townsmen  or  select- 
men, two  surveyors,  and  a  committee  of  two  to  attend  to  a 
number  of  things.  Of  these  the  constables  and  townsmen 
were  elected  annually;  the  surveyors  were  a  committee 
appointed  for  an  indefinite  period,  and  the  two  others  were 
chosen  as  a  temporary  expedient.  As  highways  were  called 
for  more  and  more,  surveyors  became  regular  officers,  and 
in  1643,  chimney- viewers  were  elected,  as  the  town  had 
already  established  the  requirement  that  every  house  should 
have  its  ladder  or  tree  for  use  in  case  of  fire.  In  some  of 
the  towns  the  townsmen  had  charge  of  the  fences,  highways, 
animals,  and  rates,  but  gradually  various  officers  were  ap- 
pointed to  meet  the  increasing  needs,  and  in  nearly  all  cases, 


70  A  History  of  Gonnecticut 

save  that  of  townsmen,  town  officers  were  the  result  of  an 
order  of  the  Court  to  that  effect. 

Special  officers  were  needed  to  regulate  the  finances. 
There  were  at  first  three  rates  and  afterward  a  fourth.  The 
first  was  that  paid  to  the  colony ;  then  there  was  the  town  rate, 
and  it  was  paid  according  to  the  estate  of  each  inhabitant; 
there  was  also  the  minister's  rate,  and  afterwards  there  was 
the  school  rate.  The  lister  made  up  the  list  of  the  estates, 
and  his  associates  made  up  the  rate;  the  collector  or  bailiff 
was  the  officer  to  whom  the  inhabitants  brought  wheat, 
peas,  and  Indian  corn ;  the  inspector,  who  was  to  see  that  no 
one's  estate  was  left  out  of  the  list,  was  a  short-lived  officer. 
There  soon  came  into  existence  a  large  number  of  other 
officers,  such  as  packer  of  meat,  brander  of  horses,  sealer 
of  leather,  examiner  of  yarn,  sealer  of  weights  and  measures, 
the  standards  of  which  were  procured  from  England,  public 
whippers,  cattle-herders,  sheep-masters,  tithing-men,  ordi- 
nary-keepers, ensign  of  the  train-band,  town  criers,  town 
Warners,  and  town  clerk. 

The  most  important  set  of  officers  in  the  town  was  the 
townsmen — the  executive  board  of  which  appeared  on  the 
records  of  Hartford,  January  i,  1639.  At  a  meeting  of  that 
board,  two  weeks  before  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  it 
was  ordered  that  the  townsmen,  for  the  time  being,  should 
have  the  power  of  the  whole  to  order  the  common  occasions 
of  the  town,  with  certain  limitations;  they  could  not  receive 
new  inhabitants  without  vote  of  the  whole;  could  make  no 
levies  on  the  town  except  concerning  the  herding  of  cattle; 
could  grant  no  lands  save  in  small  parcels  to  a  needy  in- 
habitant; could  not  alter  any  highway  already  settled  and 
laid  out;  in  the  calling  out  of  persons  and  cattle  for  labor 
they  must  guarantee  in  the  name  of  the  whole  the  safe  return 
of  cattle  and  a  reasonable  wage  for  the  men,  and  should  not 
raise  wages  above  sixpence  a  day.  They  were  required  to 
meet  once  a  fortnight,  under  penalty  of  two  shillings  six- 
pence for  every  offense.     The  number  of  townsmen  differed 


Kormin^  the  Government  'ji 

in  the  several  towns:  in  New  Haven  the  number  was  ten, 
and  later  seven;  Hartford  regularly  had  four;  Wethersfield, 
in  seventy  years,  had  at  different  times  five,  four,  and  three ; 
Windsor  had  seven  and  then  five.  Their  business,  according 
to  the  records,  was  "to  agetat  and  order  the  townse occasions 
for  the  present  year."  Since  town  affairs  included  church 
affairs,  the  townsmen  had  on  their  hands  the  care  of  the 
meeting-house,  superintending  those  who  were  chosen  by 
the  town  to  clapboard,  imderdaub,  sweep,  and  dress  it,  and 
also  the  construction  of  porch,  seats,  and  pulpit.  Through 
the  townsmen  the  expenses  of  the  town  were  met,  such  as 
paying  the  herders,  watch,  drum-beaters,  building  and  repair 
of  bridges,  setting  the  town  mill,  surveying  lands,  repairing 
the  minister's  house,  payment  of  minister's  salary,  occa- 
sionally supporting  poor  persons,  repair  of  town  property, 
as  ferry,  town  stocks,  payment  of  bounties  for  wolves  and 
blackbirds,  payment  of  town  officers,  and  such  extra  ex- 
penses as  "liquor  for  boimdgoers."  There  was  no  law 
that  required  the  townsmen  to  make  an  annual  statement 
of  receipts  and  expenditures,  and  they  sometimes  failed 
to  square  accounts  and  hand  over  the  surplus  to  their 
successors. 

The  townsmen  gradually  changed  into  the  selectmen. 
This  name  does  not  appear  in  Hartford  and  Windsor  until 
1 69 1,  and  for  twenty-five  years  after  that  there  was  a  com- 
mingling of  the  terms.  The  title  selectmen  might  be  used 
in  recording  the  election,  but  the  old  name  of  townsmen  was 
often  used  in  the  further  accounts.  After  1725,  selectmen 
was  the  generally  accepted  term. 

The  constable  was  the  right  arm  of  the  law,  and  a  very 
important  officer,  and  since  the  river  towns  were  of  a  military 
character,  the  earliest  act  of  the  provisional  government  was 
directed  against  a  laxity  of  military  discipline,  and  the  next 
forbade  the  sale  of  arms,  powder  and  shot  to  the  Indians, 
following  which  is  the  appointment  of  constables  as  military 
officers.     Then  the  constable  was  to  patrol  a  town  to  guard 


72  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

against  Indian  attacks,  and  also  to  view  the  ammunition, 
which  every  inhabitant  was  ordered  to  have  in  readiness; 
soon  also  every  town  was  to  be  put  into  military  condition 
by  monthly  trainings  imder  the  constable,  with  more  fre- 
quent meetings  for  the  "unskilful."  The  constable  was  to 
examine  the  arms  to  see  "whether  they  be  serviceable  or 
noe,"  a  duty  which  was  afterward  given  to  the  clerk  of  the 
train-band.  After  the  war  was  over  the  inhabitants  were 
ordered  to  carry  to  the  constable  "any  armor,  swords,  belts, 
Bandilers,  kittles,  pottes,  tooles,  or  anything  else  that  be- 
longs to  the  commonwealth,"  and  he  was  to  return  them  to 
the  next  Court. 

After  Captain  John  Mason  was  appointed  general  train- 
ing officer,  the  constable  became  a  purely  civil  officer  with 
many  police  duties.  The  town  meetings  were  held  at  first 
monthly,  but  later  they  were  held  less  frequently  in  the 
simimer,  and  the  autumn  and  winter  meetings  were  of  the 
greatest  importance,  for  then  the  officers  were  elected,  rates 
proclaimed,  and  laws  read.  The  town  meeting  was  usually 
called  together  by  the  beating  of  the  drum  or  blowing  of 
the  trumpet  from  the  top  of  the  meeting-house,  as  is  sug- 
gested by  a  Windsor  record,  "determined  that  provision 
should  be  made  from  the  top  of  the  meeting-house,  from  the 
Lanthom  to  the  ridge  of  the  house,  to  walk  conveniently  to 
sound  a  trumpet  or  drum  to  give  warning  to  the  meetings." 
There  were  also  wamers  in  Wethersfield  who  went  from  house 
to  house,  to  give  notice  to  the  inhabitants.  The  time  of 
meeting  was  nine  in  the  morning,  and  at  first  fines  were 
imposed  for  absence.  Officers  were  generally  chosen  by 
ballot,  though  at  times,  for  "dispatch  of  business,"  show  of 
hands  was  employed. 

The  government  formed  in  1639,  was  steady  in  its  work- 
ing; at  the  first  election  on  April  11,  1639,  John  Haynes  was 
chosen  governor;  in  a  period  of  twenty  years,  Haynes 
was  governor  eight  times  and  Edward  Hopkins  seven  times. 
In  1657,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  was  chosen  governor,  and  he 


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The  Title-Page  of  the  First  Election  Sermon  Preached  in  Connecticut 

This  sermon  was  the  first  of  the  famous  series  of  election  sermons  delivered  to  the  General 

Assembly  at  the  opening  of  the  annual  session.     A  copy  is  in  the  possession  of 

the  Connecticut  State  Library 


Forming  tKe  Government  73 

held  office  for  eighteen  years.  Early  in  the  next  century, 
Gurdon  Saltonstall  was  governor  for  seventeen  years. 
*^  The  ecclesiastical  excresence  on  the  constitution,  natural 
at  the  time,  though  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  document, 
remained  to  trouble  the  commonwealth  until  the  political 
system  came  up  to  its  own  standard  in  1818.  The  wisdom 
of  Hooker  is  seen  nowhere  else  more  clearly  than  in  the 
third  proposition  of  the  sermon  that  "they  who  have  the 
power  to  appoint  officers  and  magistrates,  it  is  in  their  power 
also  to  set  the  bounds  and  limitations  of  the  power  and  place 
unto  which  they  call  them."  The  government  was  a  crea- 
tion of  the  people,  and  governor,  legislature,  and  judges 
were  to  have  a  limited  power,  and  that  limiting  element 
afterwards  developed  into  the  Supreme  Court.  This  fea- 
ture of  Hooker's  sermon  is  probably  the  most  important 
development  of  our  political  system.  There  had  been 
democracies  before,  but  the  supremacy  of  the  law,  coming 
directly  from  the  people,  limiting  the  government  created 
by  the  people,  is  original  here,  and  is  a  principle  which 
found  expression  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
a  fact  which  has  led  many  admirers  of  the  Connecticut 
system  to  declare  that  the  former  can  be  traced  to  the  con- 
stitution of  1639.  This  is  an  alluring  view,  which  is  not 
now  accepted  by  those  who  have  examined  the  subject, 
though,  no  doubt,  the  Connecticut  government  had  a 
decided  influence  at  the  convention  of  1787,  because  of  the 
presence  there  of  Sherman,  Ellsworth,  and  Johnson. 

The  fact  that  there  was  no  sovereignty  of  the  towns 
before  1639,  enhances  the  glory  of  Connecticut  as  the  birth- 
place of  American  democracy,  and  it  is  enough  honor  for 
this  commonwealth  to  have  been  the  first  organized  govern- 
ment to  draft  for  itself  an  organic  law,  and  first  to  build 
that  law  on  the  theory  that  the  sovereignty  of  a  state  is  in 
the  people  of  the  state. 

It  is  not  a  gracious  task  to  criticize  so  great  an  instru- 
ment as  the  famous  "Constitution"  of  the  colony,  but  the 


74  -A.  History  of  Connecticxjit 

open  suffrage  provision  was  found  in  practice  to  be  too  doc- 
trinaire, and  had  to  be  changed  in  twenty  years;  the  throw- 
ing off  of  all  connection  with  English  law  made  New  England 
inferior  to  the  South  in  the  production  of  able  lawyers,  and 
the  equality  of  representation  in  the  towns  has  left  a  legacy 
which  has  retarded  progress,  and  permits  the  injustice  of  a 
town  of  a  hundred  voters  having  as  many  representatives 
in  the  legislature  as  a  city  of  a  hundred  thousand  souls. 
Then,  too,  the  refusal  of  the  founders  to  grant  larger  power 
to  the  governor  has  led  to  an  excessive  development  of  the 
legislative  factor,  which  in  the  judgment  of  many  has  proved 
a  detriment  to  colony  and  state. 

The  question  now  arises  as  to  the  authorship  of  this 
remarkable  document.  An  easy  answer  is  the  common  one 
r— Thomas  Hooker — and  we  are  not  to  lessen  the  glory  of 
that  great  mind,  but  there  was  one  other  man,  and  only  one, 
who  had  the  training  and  the  ability  to  fashion  the  Funda- 
mental Orders,  and  that  was  Roger  Ludlow  of  Windsor. 
Ludlow  came  of  a  distinguished,  liberty-loving  family,  a 
family  of  soldiers,  lawyers,  and  statesmen.  From  1547,  to 
1660,  six  Ludlows  studied  law  in  the  Inner  Temple,  and 
Roger  Ludlow,  after  two  years  at  Balliol  College,  Oxford, 
became  a  student  at  the  Inner  Temple  in  1612,  and  for  the 
next  period,  until  at  forty  he  sailed  for  Massachusetts,  he 
was  engaged  in  legal  training  and  research;  mastering  prin- 
ciples and  precedents;  becoming  an  expert  in  handling 
constitutional  forms,  thus  commending  himself  to  his 
critical  associates  as  the  one  man  to  whom  they  could  look 
to  grasp  and  form  the  laws  of  the  new  state;  to  serve  as 
magistrate  and  jurist,  and  to  put  into  final  shape  the  colo- 
nial statutes.  Ludlow  married  Mary  Endicott,  a  sister  of 
the  Massachusetts  governor.  He  sailed  in  the  spring  of 
1630,  in  the  first  ship  of  the  fleet,  and  landing  in  May  at 
Nantasket,  he  went  to  Dorchester  with  a  group  known  as 
the  Dorchester  Company, — "a  godly  and  religious  people, 
many  of  them  persons  of  note  and  figure,  being  dignified 


Forming  the  Government  75 

with  ye  title  of  master,  which  but  few  in  those  days  were." 
When,  in  1630,  the  famous  charter  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
was  secured  from  King  Charles,  Ludlow  was  chosen  an 
assistant  by  the  stockholders  in  London,  "that  his  counsel 
and  judgment  might  aid  in  preserving  order,  and  founding 
the  social  structure  upon  the  surest  basis."  Among  his 
associates  were  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  Lord  Say  and  Sele, 
Winthrop,  Vane,  Mason,  Underhill,  and  Wareham.  To  be 
chosen  assistant  in  association  with  such  men  marks  Ludlow 
as  a  man  of  superior  ability  and  knowledge.  His  service 
in  Massachusetts  for  five  years  as  magistrate  in  the  Great 
Charter  Court  and  as  deputy  governor,  brought  him  oppor- 
tunity for  many  important  duties  and  to  meet  questions  of 
the  gravest  concern,  to  which  he  brought  all  the  resources 
of  his  powerful  mind. 

Remembering  the  situation  at  Boston  Bay,  the  disposi- 
tion of  Winthrop,  Cotton,  and  the  other  leaders  to  keep  the 
reins  of  government  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  it  is  significant 
that  when  the  struggle  began  between  magistrates  and 
commons,  Ludlow,  an  assistant,  stood  with  his  associates, 
but  when  the  freemen  demanded  a  sight  of  the  charter,  and 
appointed  deputies  to  advise  the  magistrates,  Ludlow  took 
his  place  with  the  people,  and  in  1634,  was  elected  deputy 
governor,  from  which  office  he  graduated  to  cast  in  his  for- 
tunes with  the  settlers  on  the  Connecticut.  We  need  not 
repeat  the  story  of  diplomacy  and  force  by  which  the  Dutch 
were  ousted,  the  Pilgrims  checkmated,  and  the  younger 
Winthrop  led  to  abandon  his  claim  to  the  upper  Connecticut, 
We  have  seen  that  Ludlow  was  at  the  head  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts commission  to  govern  the  colony  for  a  year,  was 
practically  the  first  governor;  when  the  Court  assembled 
at  the  opening  of  the  second  year.  May  i,  1637,  Ludlow 
presided,  and  "offensive  warr"  against  the  Pequots  was 
voted.  He  was  in  charge  of  the  defenses  about  Windsor 
while  the  soldiers  were  absent;  he  was  in  the  army  at  the 
Swamp   Fight,   and   when   the   Fundamental   Orders   were 


76  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

adopted  at  Hartford  January  14,  1639,  who  was  the  man 
who  put  into  form  that  immortal  instrument?  Ludlow 
was  a  lawyer — the  only  one  in  the  colony ;  he  was  trained  in 
the  best  English  schools;  had  served  on  the  government  of 
Massachusetts  for  four  years;  had  drawn  the  main  acts  of 
the  colonial  government,  and  while  Haynes,  Wyllys,  Web- 
ster, Mason,  Goodwin,  and  Steele  had  part  in  the  delibera- 
tions, we  cannot  refrain  from  the  belief  that  Ludlow  was 
the  leading  mind  in  framing  the  Fundamental  Orders.  This 
cannot  be  proven,  for  there  is  no  record  of  the  meetings, 
but  it  is  a  natural  inference  from  the  facts  cited  above,  and 
from  the  fact  that  in  1646,  it  was  ordered  by  the  General 
Court  that 

Mr.  Ludlowe  is  requested  to  take  some  paynes  in  drawing  forth 
a  body  of  Lawes  for  the  government  of  this  Commonwelth, 
and  p''sent  the  same  to  the  next  Generall  Court;  and  if  he  can 
provide  a  man  for  his  occasions  while  he  is  imployed  in  the  said 
searvice,  he  shall  be  paid  at  the  country  chardge. 

While  the  three  plantations  on  the  Connecticut  were 
forming  their  government.  New  Haven,  Milford,  and  Guil- 
ford were  laying  their  civic  foundations  with  sermons  and 
prayers.  On  reaching  New  Haven  in  1638,  the  settlers 
first  bound  themselves  by  a  "plantation  covenant,"  similar 
to  that  of  the  Plymouth  Pilgrims,  making  a  temporary 
government,  and  thirteen  months  later,  in  the  barn  of 
Robert  Newman,  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  foundations  of 
New  Haven  were  laid.  In  1643,  the  neighboring  colonies 
of  Milford  and  Guilford  were  admitted  into  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  New  Haven  colony,  and  at  that  time  a  written  consti- 
tution, consisting  of  certain  "fundamental  orders,"  appears 
upon  the  record.  This  differed  from  the  constitution  of 
Connecticut  in  that  it  insisted  that  none  but  church  members 
could  vote;  the  number  disfranchised  in  New  Haven  was 
probably  a  majority;  in  Guilford  nearly  a  half.  It  also 
guarded  carefully  the  independence  of  the  churches,  and 


Korming  tHe  Government  l"] 

established  various  courts  whose  powers  were  carefully 
prescribed.  At  New  Haven  as  at  Hartford,  the  settlers 
felt  that  they  were  not  founding  colonies  but  states.  During 
many  of  the  earliest  years,  the  records  of  New  Haven 
contain  no  recognition  of  the  English  king.  This  was 
natural,  for  the  twelve  years  from  1628,  to  1640,  were  a 
period  when  the  prospects  of  liberty  in  England,  under  Laud 
and  Strafford,  were  at  the  darkest;  when  freedom  existed 
only  in  a  memory  or  a  hope.  During  those  years,  when 
the  realm  was  governed,  not  by  Acts  of  Parliament,  but  by 
Orders  in  Council,  twenty  thousand  Puritans  emigrated  to 
New  England;  and  it  is  not  strange  that  a  knowledge  of  the 
condition  in  England  should  have  colored  the  constitutions 
forming  here. 

On  March  14,  1661,  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut 
voted  to  acknowledge  allegiance  to  Charles  H.,  with  request 
for  a  charter,  and  in  August,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  sailed  in 
quest  of  the  boon.  He  was  to  ask  for  the  renewal  of  the 
patent,  or  for  a  charter.  There  was  a  happy  combination 
of  influences  working  for  the  good  of  the  colony;  Lord  Say 
and  Sele  was  interested  in  Winthrop  and  in  the  community 
he  represented,  and  the  scientific  tastes  and  scholarly  bearing 
of  Winthrop  commended  him  to  the  English  government, 
so  that  it  came  to  pass  that  a  charter  was  obtained  more 
democratic  than  was  ever  given  by  another  king,  by  which 
was  constituted  the  Governor  and  Company  of  the  English 
Colony  of  Connecticut  in  New  England  in  America.  The 
boundaries  of  the  territory  were:  on  the  east, 


the  Narragansett  River,  commonly  called  Narragansett  Bay, 
where  the  said  river  falleth  into  the  sea;  on  the  north,  the  line 
of  the  Massachusetts  Plantation;  on  the  south,  the  sea;  and,  in 
longitude,  as  the  line  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  runneth  from 
east  to  the  west,  that  is  to  say,  from  the  said  Narragansett  Bay 
on  the  east,  to  the  South  Sea  on  the  west  part,  with  the  islands 
thereto  adjoining. 


78  A  History  of  Connecticut 

These  boundaries  included  the  whole  of  New  Haven  colony, 
as  well  as  the  territory  of  Rhode  Island. 

The  government  was  to  be  administered  by  a  governor, 
a  deputy  governor,  twelve  assistants,  and  a  house  of  deputies, 
which  was  to  consist  of  two  members  from  each  town,  to 
be  elected  annually  by  the  freemen  of  the  colony.  The  only 
limiting  clause  was  that  the  local  legislature  could  not  make 
laws  contrary  to  those  of  the  realm  of  England,  but  this  had 
little  weight,  for  there  was  a  method  in  the  English  govern- 
ment of  annulling  laws  passed  by  colonial  legislatures.  It  was 
an  extraordinary  document  to  be  issued  while  Lord  Clarendon 
was  minister,  and  one  reason  for  its  quality  may  have  been 
the  desire  to  punish  New  Haven  for  harboring  the  regicides. 
The  king  issued  a  sign  manual  bearing  "Charles  R,"  Febru- 
ary 28,  1662,  and  the  charter  passed  the  great  seal,  as  is 
indicated  by  the  chancellor's  "recipe,"  April  23.  The 
arrival  of  the  charter  in  New  England  four  months  later, 
created  a  decided  sensation.  Great  was  the  joy;  it  was 
read  in  Hartford,  October  9,  committed  to  Wyllys,  Talcott, 
and  Allen;  the  General  Court  declaring  in  force  all  the 
laws  and  orders  of  the  colony,  making  a  declaration  of  the 
same  to  all  civil  and  military  officers.  Westchester,  lying 
within  Dutch  territory,  received  notice  of  the  claims  of 
Connecticut,  and  the  dwellers  at  Mystic  and  Stonington 
were  notified  that  they  were  within  Connecticut.  Border 
towns  that  had  been  allied  with  New  Haven  waited  on  the 
legislature  of  Connecticut  and  asked  admission  to  its  citizen- 
ship. A  committee  of  two  magistrates  and  two  ministers 
was  appointed  to  go  to  New  Haven,  to  say  they  hoped  that 
a  happy  union  might  be  formed,  and  the  reply  was  that 
the  New  Haven  colony  preferred  to  hear  the  particulars 
from  the  lips  of  Winthrop.  Meanwhile  meetings  of  the 
freemen  were  held,  and  protests  made  against  the  union 
which  was  thrust  upon  them,  and  votes  were  taken  in  the 
towns  to  defer  action  until  Winthrop 's  home-coming. 

Connecticut  made  no  response  to  the  remonstrance  of 


The  Charter  of  1662 


This  is  from  a  photograph  of  the  charter  issued  to  the  colony  in   1662.  by  Charles  II       For  a 
short  time  .t  was  secreted  in  the  famous  Charter  Oak.      At  the  right  is  the  Constitution  of 
i8r8.     Above  ,s  Stuart  s  Washington.     The  group  is  in  the  south  end  of   Memorial  Hall 
Connecticut   State  Library 


Forming  the  Government  79 

New  Haven  until  some  four  months  later,  when  it  sent  a 
committee  of  four  magistrates  to  New  Haven  to  settle  the 
matter  of  union  and  incorporation.  They  were  instructed 
to  consent  to  no  concessions  and  to  make  no  compromises. 
New  Haven,  at  a  meeting  of  its  General  Court,  resolved  to 
recognize  no  changes  of  the  government,  and  to  go  on  as 
usual.  In  the  face  of  the  advice  of  Winthrop  in  the  com- 
munication he  sent  to  Deputy  Governor  Mason  of  Connecti- 
cut, that  colony  proceeded  to  appoint  magistrates  for  the 
New  Haven  towns,  and  invited  from  those  towns  deputies 
to  the  Connecticut  legislature.  Since  New  Haven  declined 
to  treat  with  Connecticut,  that  colony  addressed  the  several 
towns  of  New  Haven.  At  the  meeting  of  the  federal  com- 
missioners in  Boston  in  1663,  the  question  of  union  was 
the  most  important  matter  of  consideration.  New  Haven 
presented  its  grievance  over  the  usurpation  of  Connecticut, 
and  the  representatives  of  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth 
gave  it  as  their  opinion  that 

the  colony  of  New  Haven  might  not  by  any  act  of  violence,  have 
their  liberty  of  jurisdiction  infringed  by  any  other  of  the  United 
Colonies  without  breach  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  and 
that,  wherein  the  act  of  power  had  been  exerted  against  their 
authority,  the  same  ought  to  be  recalled,  and  their  power  reserved 
to  them  entire,  until  such  time  as  in  an  orderly  way  it  should  be 
otherwise  disposed. 

Meanwhile  the  New  Haven  alliance  tended  to  disin- 
tegrate; the  plantation  convenant  excluded  forty  per  cent, 
of  the  population  from  citizenship,  and  this  element  was 
friendly  to  a  change.  It  was  not  easy  for  the  New  Haven 
confederacy  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  government  after 
all  but  three  towns  seceded,  but  the  order  received  from 
England  at  that  time,  requiring  the  observance  of  the  navi- 
gation laws,  was  addressed  to  the  governor  and  assistants 
of  New  Haven,  and  that  was  considered  by  the  authorities 
as  a  virtual  recognition  of  their  separate  capacity,  and  they 
made  it  the  basis  of  a  claim  for  taxes  on  the  seceding  towns. 


8o  i\  History  of  Connecticxit 

To  bring  the  intolerable  situation  to  a  close,  the  General 
Court  of  New  Haven  prepared  a  paper  to  transmit  to  the 
Connecticut  authorities,  entitled  New  Haven's  Case  Stated, 
wherein  the  full  history  was  set  forth,  and  the  Connecticut 
authorities  were  requested  no  longer  to  force  a  union.  To 
this  plea  Connecticut  made  no  reply,  and  the  contest  con- 
tinued until  the  summer  of  1664.  The  leading  men  of 
Massachusetts  advised  New  Haven  to  yield,  saying  that  the 
Case  Stated  justified  its  position  and  it  could  yield  with 
dignity,  and  this  advice  was  followed  after  a  few  concessions 
had  been  made.  The  movement  toward  union  was  not 
retarded  by  the  fact  that  Charles  II.  granted  to  his  brother, 
the  Duke  of  York,  March  12,  1664,  New  Netherlands  and  all 
Long  Island  "and  the  land  from  the  west  side  of  Connecticut 
to  the  East  side  of  Delaware  Bay."  Royal  authority  had 
disposed  of  New  Haven  without  her  knowledge.  Between  the 
two  powerful  claimants,  Connecticut  and  the  Duke  of  York, 
there  was  no  hesitation  about  the  decision.  It  was  better 
to  be  connected  with  a  people  of  their  own  faith  than  become 
the  property  of  a  prince  of  the  House  of  Stuart.  When 
Colonel  Richard  Nicolls  came  with  three  ships  of  war  and 
troops  to  secure  possession  from  the  Dutch,  the  charter  of 
Winthrop  was  a  welcome  resource.  Winthrop  preferred 
to  yield  Long  Island  rather  than  the  west,  and  the  boundary 
on  the  west  was  declared  to  be  "the  creek  or  river  called 
Mamoronock,  which  is  reputed  to  be  about  twelve  miles 
to  the  east  of  Westchester,  and  a  line  drawn  from  the  east 
part  or  side,  where  the  fresh  water  falls  into  the  salt  at  high 
water  mark,  northwest  to  the  line  of  Massachusetts." 
Thus  Connecticut  kept  substantially  all  she  had  formerly 
claimed  on  the  mainland  in  return  for  the  loss  of  Long 
Island.  By  that  time  New  Haven  saw  that  union  could 
no  longer  be  delayed,  and  on  December  13,  1664,  she  held 
her  last  General  Court  and  adopted  resolutions  dissolving 
the  colony.  Davenport  was  bitterly  disappointed,  and  said 
the  independence  of  his  colony  was  "miserably  lost." 


CHAPTER  VII 
COURTS  AND  LAWS 

AT  first  the  legislative  and  judicial  powers  of  the  colony 
were  vested  in  the  General  Court,  whose  authority  came, 
as  we  have  seen  in  the  previous  chapter,  from  the  Massachu- 
setts legislature.  In  accordance  with  the  commission  from 
Boston,  a"Corte"  was  organized,  consisting  of  magistrates 
from  Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Wethersfield  on  April  26, 
1636,  at  Hartford,  and  the  following  men  were  present: 
Roger  Ludlow,  John  Steele,  William  Swain,  William  Phelps, 
William  Westwood,  and  William  Ward,  and  this  Court  had 
power  to  make  and  repeal  laws,  grant  levies,  admit  freemen, 
dispose  of  unappropriated  lands,  and  discipline  any  one, 
even  a  court  magistrate.  There  was  no  check  upon  its 
power,  except  the  provision  that  its  acts  must  not  be  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  England,  and  within  such  lines  it  had 
absolute  power  over  life,  liberty,  and  property.  As  we  have 
seen,  it  gave  little  thought  to  the  common  law  of  England, 
but  Roger  Ludlow  was  there,  a  man  thoroughly  trained 
in  English  precedents  and  the  methods  of  the  courts  of  the 
mother  country,  and  he  was  probably  the  most  powerful 
influence  in  those  early  meetings  of  the  magistrates;  if  not, 
he  would  know  the  reason  why,  for  Ludlow  had  a  temper  as 
well  as  brains  and  scholarship,  and  he  was  practically  the 
first  governor.  This  Court  made  a  very  modest  beginning 
at  its  first  meeting,  and  did  little  but  elect  constables  and 
forbid  "trade  with  the  natives  or  Indians  any  peece,  or 

6  81 


82  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

pistoll,  or  gunn,  or  powder,  or  shott."  It  was  ordered  that 
any  stray  swine  should  be  confined  two  weeks,  and  if  they 
were  then  unclaimed,  they  should  be  sold.  This  suggests 
the  policy  of  the  settlers  in  their  court  procedure:  to  make 
their  laws  to  fit  the  cases  as  they  arose,  meet  all  occa- 
sions with  common  sense  and  practical  measures,  and  let 
their  jurisprudence  evolve  with  the  growth  of  society.  At 
New  Haven  it  was  somewhat  different,  for  the  Old  Testa- 
ment laws  had  a  stronger  hold  there,  and  of  course  there 
was  a  large  supply  of  common  sense  on  the  Sound  as  well  as 
on  the  Connecticut.  In  both  colonies  it  was  the  policy  to 
face  the  intricate  often  vexing  questions  of  the  new  govern- 
ment, and  to  undertake  the  laborious  duties  of  society  with 
calm  deliberation  and  good  judgment. 

The  second  session  of  this  Court  was  held  in  Windsor,  and 
the  third  in  Wethersfield,  and  as  we  shall  see,  this  plain 
gathering  of  straightforward  magistrates  became  in  1639, 
the  General  Court,  the  heart  of  authority  in  the  common- 
wealth, and  the  mother  of  all  the  other  courts  that  came 
into  existence  as  occasion  required.  Since  the  "Corte"  for 
which  the  mother  colony  so  thoughtfully  arranged  was  the 
only  legal  authority  there  was  the  first  year,  it  fined  a  citizen 
for  cursing,  and  ordered  that  no  one  should  "drink"  any 
but  home-raised  tobacco;  it  also  passed  regulations  concern- 
ing courting,  but  by  degrees  it  divested  itself  of  a  part  of 
its  judicial  power  by  constituting  local  tribunals  for  settling 
of  estates  and  to  try  cases  whether  of  witchcraft,  theft, 
sailing  a  boat  on  Sunday,  or  murder.  The  election  of  depu- 
ties after  the  adoption  of  the  Fundamental  Orders  in  1639, 
was  the  beginning  of  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature,  the 
germ  of  which  is  found  in  the  committees  from  the  towns 
which  had  met  previously  with  the  magistrates.  In  1645, 
a  step  was  taken  toward  the  ultimate  division  into  Senate 
and  House  by  the  provision  that  no  act  of  the  General 
Court  should  become  a  law,  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
magistrates   and   deputies.     When   Connecticut   and   New 


Coxarts  and  La'ws  83 

Haven  were  united  in  1664,  the  General  Court  became  the 
General  Assembly ,  and  in  1698,  the  distinction  between  the 
governor  and  council  as  one  house  and  the  deputies  as 
the  other  was  made  distinct. 

In  accordance  with  the  only  sensible  course,  there  was  a 
division  of  labors  as  early  as  1638,  a  year  before  the  adoption 
of  the  Orders,  when  the  General  Court  organized  a  Particular 
Court  to  meet  in  Hartford  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  May  for 
the  trial  of  two  persons  charged  with  misdemeanors.  This 
Court  was  doubtless  made  up  of  magistrates,  and  it  be- 
came a  tribunal  less  formal  than  the  General  Court,  meeting 
more  frequently  for  the  trial  of  cases.  It  had  no  stated 
time  for  its  sessions  and  was  held  once  in  Wethersfield,  once 
in  New  London,  and  the  rest  of  the  time  in  Hartford.  It 
was  probably  held  in  the  meeting-house  or  the  house  of  a 
magistrate  at  first,  and  as  the  years  passed  court-houses 
became  necessary.  The  methods  were  simplicity  itself, 
as  lawyers  were  rare;  rules  of  evidence  hardly  thought  of; 
magistrates  conducted  the  examination  of  witnesses;  argu- 
ments were  infrequent;  judgment  was  based  on  conscience 
rather  than  on  legal  precedent.  The  Fundamental  Orders 
make  no  reference  to  it,  but  it  continued  to  hold  sessions  at 
irregular  times  until  May,  1642,  when  it  was  enacted  that  it 
should  meet  only  once  in  three  months,  and  should  be  known 
thereafter  as  the  Quarter  Court.  The  times  of  meeting 
were  the  first  Thursdays  in  March,  June,  September,  and 
December.  When  held  at  other  times,  it  was  called  the 
Particular  Court. 

The  earliest  record  of  the  definite  formation  of  a  court 
is  in  May,  1647,  when  the  General  Court  enacted  that  it 
should  consist  of  the  governor,  deputy  governor,  and  two 
magistrates:  and  in  the  absence  of  the  executive  officers, 
three  magistrates  should  hold  court.  Its  jurisdiction  ex- 
tended to  all  minor  disputes  and  it  was  purely  judicial  in 
its  construction,  though  its  functions  included  both  civil 
and  criminal  cases.     While  it  was  a  court  of  appeal  from 


84  i\  History  of  Connecticut 

inferior  tribunals,  its  decisions  could  be  appealed  to  the 
General  Court.  In  civil  cases,  where  the  amounts  involved 
exceeded  forty  shillings,  the  trial,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
magistrates,  could  be  submitted  to  a  jury  of  six  or  twelve, 
and  two  thirds  of  their  number  could  render  a  legal  verdict. 
If,  in  the  opinion  of  the  magistrates,  the  verdict  was  not  in 
accordance  with  the  testimony,  they  could  empower  the 
jury  to  reconsider  its  decision,  or  impanel  another,  if  the 
jury  had  not  "attended  to  the  evidence."  In  suits  for 
damages,  if  the  magistrates  deemed  the  sum  allowed  exor- 
bitant or  inadequate,  they  had  power  to  alter  it,  if  done  in 
open  court.  In  July,  1643,  provision  was  made  for  a  grand 
jury  of  twelve  or  fourteen  able  men  to  present  breaches  of 
laws  or  misdemeanors.  As  the  magistrates  received  only 
fees  for  their  services,  a  statute  was  passed  to  oblige  persons 
to  pay  the  costs  of  prosecution  before  leaving  court,  or 
suffer  imprisonment.  The  inferior  judicial  bodies  were 
limited  to  the  township,  and  were  called  town  courts,  con- 
sisting of  three,  five,  or  six  men,  who  were  called  principal 
men,  or  town's  men,  afterwards  selectmen,  who  were  elected 
annually,  and  one  of  their  number  was  chosen  moderator, 
whose  presence  was  required  to  form  a  quorum.  Their 
judicial  powers  were  confined  to  claims  of  debt  and  trespass, 
where  the  amount  involved  was  less  than  forty  shillings, 
and  before  the  execution  was  issued  the  case  could  be  ap- 
pealed. Sessions  of  the  town  court  were  held  once  in  two 
months.  Thus  we  see  that  up  to  the  time  of  the  charter 
there  were  three  courts.  General,  Particular,  and  Town — 
tribunals  to  decide  cases  according  to  "conscience  and 
righteousness." 

After  the  charter  there  were  changes  as  settlements 
multiplied,  and  counties  were  formed,  with  courts  according 
to  the  new  divisions.  In  1665,  the  colony  was  divided  into 
four  counties — Hartford,  New  Haven,  New  London,  and 
Fairfield.  The  old  Particular  or  Quarter  Court  gave  way 
to  the  Court  of  Assistants,  so  called  because  it  was  composed 


Courts  and  La"ws  85 

of  a  majority  of  the  assistants,  the  successors  of  the  magis- 
trates of  the  old  General  Court,  and  this  was  constituted 
in  October,  1665,  with  jurisdiction  over  crimes  relating  to 
life,  limb,  banishment,  and  appellate,  also  questions  of  divorce 
and  admiralty.  It  was  held  semi-annually,  one  week  before 
the  General  Assembly.  When  the  counties  were  organized, 
a  County  Court  was  established  in  each,  of  three  assistants 
and  two  commissioners,  afterwards  called  justices  of  the 
peace.  In  1698,  it  was  voted  that  in  each  county,  four  of 
the  most  able  and  judicious  freemen  should  be  justices, 
three  of  whom,  with  a  judge  appointed  by  the  General 
Assembly,  should  have  power  to  hold  a  County  Court.  In 
October,  1698,  it  was  voted  that  three  justices  could  hold 
court.  From  that  time  until  1821,  the  formation  of  County 
Courts  was  unchanged  with  one  judge  and  from  two  to 
five  justices  of  the  peace,  all  commissioned  by  the  General 
Assembly.  From  1821,  to  1839,  there  were  three  judges. 
In  1839,  a  county  commissioner  was  added;  in  1853,  the 
County  Courts  were  abandoned,  to  give  way  to  one  judge  and 
two  or  three  commissioners.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  County 
Court  was  at  first  substantially  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Particular  Court.  It  had  power  in  settling  property,  and 
probating  wills,  and  also  over  prerogative  powers  that  were 
transferred  to  it.  It  could  try  all  cases,  "real,  personal  or 
mixt,"  and  all  criminal  cases,  "not  extending  to  life,  limb, 
banishment,  adultery  or  divorce."  In  1798,  it  was  pro- 
hibited from  trying  cases  whose  punishment  extended  to 
confinement  in  Newgate,  except  horse-stealing. 

In  1669,  the  Town  Courts  were  reorganized,  to  consist  of 
an  assistant  or  commissioner  and  two  selectmen,  and  appeals 
could  be  taken  to  the  County  Court,  thence  to  the  Court 
of  Assistants,  then  to  General  Assembly.  In  171 1,  the 
Court  of  Assistants  was  superseded  by  the  Superior  Court, 
with  powers  of  the  older  tribunal  transferred  to  it,  namely, 
punishment  of  offenders,  civil  causes,  appeals,  and  writs  of 
error.     It  held  sessions  in  each  of  the  counties,  having  a 


86  j\  History  of  Connecticut 

chief  judge  and  four  others, — the  governor  as  chief  judge 
and  the  rest  from  the  council.  The  power  of  the  Superior 
Court  gradually  increased;  in  1762,  authority  was  given  to 
it  to  grant  new  trials  on  discovery  of  new  evidence  and 
afford  equitable  relief  up  to  one  hundred  pounds;  later  to 
four  hundred  pounds  and  in  1778,  to  eight  hundred  pounds, 
while  cases  relating  to  sums  under  one  hundred  pounds  went 
to  the  County  Courts.  In  1784,  it  was  enacted  that  the 
lieutenant-governor  and  council  should  be  a  Supreme  Court 
of  Errors,  to  which  questions  of  law  and  equity  from  the 
Superior  Court  should  be  referred, — to  meet  annually,  al- 
ternating between  Hartford  and  New  Haven,  and  in  1795, 
the  governor  was  added.  The  docket  became  so  crowded 
with  the  increase  of  the  population  that  in  1806,  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  Errors  ceased,  and  judges  of  the  Superior 
Court  assumed  the  duties  of  the  court  of  last  resort,  and  the 
number  was  raised  to  one  chief  judge  and  eight  assistants, 
meeting  annually  in  alternate  years  in  Hartford  and  New 
Haven.  In  18 19,  this  court  consisted  of  one  chief  judge 
and  four  associates.  In  1855,  the  Supreme  Court  was 
changed  to  consist  of  a  chief  and  two  associates.  In  1859, 
the  associates  judges  were  increased  to  three,  and  in  1865, 
to  four.  From  the  foundation  of  the  Superior  Court  in 
171 1,  the  appointment  of  the  judges  was  by  the  General 
Assembly  year  by  year,  and  with  the  adoption  of  the  consti- 
tution in  18 18,  it  was  ordered  that  they  serve  during  good 
behavior  until  seventy  years  old;  in  1880,  it  was  voted  that 
the  governor  nominate  the  judges.  Owing  to  the  accumula- 
tion of  cases  in  the  Superior  Court,  the  Assembly  in  1869, 
established  a  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  Hartford  and  New 
Haven;  New  London  and  Fairfield  in  1872;  Litchfield  in 
1 88 1,  with  jurisdiction  in  legal  and  equitable  relief  in  sums 
from  one  hundred  to  five  hundred  dollars,  and  later  five 
hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars,  with  the  concurrence  of 
the  Superior  Court. 

The  growth  of  the  Probate  Courts  has  been  as  follows: 


Courts  and  La^ws  87 

Ludlow's  code  made  provision  for  the  settlement  of  the 
estates  of  deceased  persons  under  the  title  of  records.  By  the 
statute  of  October  10, 1639,  on  the  death  of  a  person  possessed 
of  an  estate,  leaving  a  will  in  writing,  or  by  word  of  mouth, 
those  men  who  were  "appointed  to  order  the  affairs  of  the 
town  where  any  such  person  deceaseth"  were  to  make  and 
report  a  true  inventory  of  the  estate,  and  record  the  will  and 
names  of  children  and  legatees  within  three  months.  The 
court  intended  was  the  Particular  Court,  which  exercised 
probate  duties  until  abandoned.  Sometimes  there  were 
three  witnesses,  sometimes  two,  sometimes  none.  In  case 
a  person  died  intestate,  the  town  officers  distributed  the 
property  to  the  family,  or  "for  the  good  of  the  common." 
After  the  abandonment  of  the  Particular  Courts,  the  pro- 
bate powers  went  to  the  County  Courts,  and  in  1698,  these 
powers  were  lodged  with  the  respective  judges  with  two 
justices,  and  there  began  the  separate  Probate  Court,  in 
that  one  less  judge  was  needed  than  for  the  County  Court. 
In  1702,  the  duty  of  making  an  inventory  was  taken  from 
the  selectmen  and  given  the  executors  or  administrators. 
In  1 7 16,  it  was  enacted  that  Courts  of  Probate  be  established 
in  the  several  counties,  with  one  judge  and  a  clerk.  The 
first  probate  districts  were  coextensive  with  the  four  original 
counties;  the  first  change  to  a  district  less  than  a  county 
was  made  in  17 19.  There  were  one  hundred  and  twelve 
Probate  Courts  in  1913. 

The  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  began  in  1669,  when  an 
act  was  passed  to  empower  an  assistant  or  commissioner, 
with  the  selectmen,  to  hear  and  determine  cases  at  which 
less  than  forty  shillings  was  at  stake,  with  right  to  appeal  to 
the  County  Court.  Various  changes  in  the  powers  of  these 
officers  were  made  from  time  to  time,  and  it  was  not  till 
1848,  that  a  justice  of  the  peace  could  sentence  a  criminal  to 
imprisonment,  and  never  over  thirty  days.  Appeals  could 
be  taken  to  the  higher  courts  for  everything,  except  convic- 
tions for  profanity  or  Sabbath-breaking.     The  right  of  trial 


88  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

by  jury  (though  declared  by  the  Constitution  inviolate)  does 
not  exist  in  justice  suits,  and  is  only  exercised  by  special 
statutes;  when  permitted,  six  persons  are  selected  from  the 
jury  list  of  the  town. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  oldest  office  in  Connecticut  is  the 
constable,  originally  the  military  center,  and  afterwards 
the  conspicuous  and  authoritative  peace  officer  of  the  colony, 
to  put  forth  hue  and  cry  after  murderers,  thieves,  and  robbers ; 
to  arrest  Sabbath-breakers  and  vagrants  without  warrant; 
to  keep  the  oversight  of  taverns  and  lock  up  loiterers.  He 
could  call  on  any  citizen  to  aid  him,  under  penalty  of  ten 
shillings,  and,  if  obstinate,  forty  shillings.  He  summoned 
town  meetings,  enforced  the  collection  of  taxes,  and  helped 
the  tithing-men  guard  the  Sabbath.  In  1715,  the  General 
Assembly  ordered  that  "constables  and  grand  jury  men  shall 
on  the  evenings  after  the  Lord's  day,  and  after  public  days 
of  religious  solemnity,  walk  the  street,  and  duly  search  all 
the  places  suspected  of  harboring  and  entertaining  any 
persons  assembled  contrary  to  law."  These  three  officers, 
tithing-men,  constables,  and  grand  jurors,  met  in  January 
and  June  to  "advise,  consider  and  use  their  joint  interest 
in  suppressing  profaneness,  vice  and  immorality."  These 
officers  received  two  shillings  a  day  for  their  services  as 
police,  and  their  pay  came  from  fines  upon  offenders.  Only 
one  was  paid  for  one  arrest.  The  symbol  of  office  was  a 
black  staff,  furnished  by  the  selectmen.  There  were  no 
sheriffs  until  1702,  though  the  office  had  existed  from  earliest 
times  under  the  name  of  marshal,  and  the  code  of  1650,  as- 
sumes it.  The  marshal  was  a  civil  officer,  appointed  by  the 
General  Court  to  preserve  order.  After  the  union  of  Con- 
necticut and  New  Haven,  there  was  a  marshal  in  every 
county,  appointed  by  the  County  Courts.  In  1702,  the 
sheriff  superseded  the  marshal,  and  in  1722,  his  duties  were 
defined:  to  conserve  peace,  suppress  riots  and  tumults  and 
summon  militia.  In  1724,  his  powers  were  still  further 
enlarged,  and  he  could   summon   any   one   to  assist  him. 


Covirts  and  La-ws  89 

Deputy  sheriffs  were  appointed  from  time  to  time  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  in  1766,  several  deputy  sheriffs  were 
appointed  in  every  county  by  the  sheriffs.  In  1724,  the 
sheriff  was  appointed  to  have  charge  of  the  jail,  with  the 
right  to  appoint  keepers. 

The  code  of  1650,  contains  an  act,  which  first  appeared 
in  1643,  by  which  it  was  ordered  that  a  grand  jury  of  twelve 
or  fourteen  men  was  warned  to  appear  at  every  court  yearly, 
in  September,  or  as  the  governor  or  court  found  necessary 
to  present  breaches  of  laws.  When  County  Courts  were 
established,  this  provision  was  made  applicable  to  them,  and 
twelve  grand  jurymen  were  to  meet  in  each  of  the  four 
counties.  In  1680,  it  was  ordered  that  they  should  serve 
for  a  year.  By  1702,  clerks  of  the  several  County  Courts 
were  directed  to  summon  one  or  more  men  from  every  town 
to  serve  as  grand  jurors,  to  report  once  a  month  all  misde- 
meanors to  the  next  assistant  or  justice  of  the  peace.  These 
men  became  informing  officers,  with  power  to  make  com- 
plaints individually.  They  were  liable  to  a  penalty  of  forty 
shillings  if  they  failed  to  take  office  when  summoned.  In 
1 7 12,  it  was  voted  that  two  or  more  grand  jurors  be  appointed 
at  town  meetings,  and  their  names  reported  to  the  clerk 
of  the  County  Court.  The  Superior  Court  summoned  its 
own  grand  jury  of  eighteen.  In  capital  cases  it  was  neces- 
sary that  indictment  should  be  made  by  a  jury  of  eighteen, 
in  which  twelve  must  agree.  The  constitution  of  18 18, 
declared  that  "no  person  shall  be  holden  to  answer  for  any 
crime,  the  punishment  of  which  is  death  or  imprisonment 
for  life,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  inxiictment  of  a  grand 
jury." 

This  sketch  of  the  development  of  the  courts  and  various 
offices  as  occasion  arose  needs  to  be  supplemented  by  an 
account  of  the  growth  of  common  and  statute  law.  After 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in  1639,  the  General  Court 
built  on  that  foundation  numerous  enactments  needed  to 
perfect  the  civil  organization  of  the  new  colony.     In  October, 


90  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

1639,  Wyllys,  Webster,  and  Spencer  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  "review  all  former  orders  and  lawes,  and  record 
such  of  them  as  they  conceave  to  be  for  publique  concern- 
ment; and  deliver  them  into  the  secretaryes  hands  to  be 
published  to  the  several  townes;  and  all  other  orders  that 
they  see  cause  to  omit,  to  be  suspended  until  the  Court 
take  further  order."  There  was  one  manuscript  statute 
book  for  every  town,  in  which  the  new  laws  were  copied 
after  every  session.  For  more  than  a  generation,  the  laws 
were  conveyed  to  the  towns  by  word  of  mouth,  and  once  a 
year  the  constable  read  the  laws  to  the  assembled  freemen. 
New  Haven  taught  the  advantage  of  circulation  of  the 
statutes,  which  were  printed  in  1673,  and  after  January, 
1674,  every  household  was  required  to  have  a  copy.  The 
first  time  that  the  incorporation  of  towns  was  recognized  was 
in  Ludlow's  code,  which  regarded  them  as  component  parts  of 
the  body  politic,  but  there  was  no  special  title  given  to  the 
subject.  In  the  code  of  1672,  their  duties  and  powers  were 
gathered  and  established.  On  them  was  laid  the  burden 
of  supporting  the  poor,  making  and  repairing  roads  and 
bridges,  and,  by  taking  impost,  the  responsibility  for  military 
defense. 

The  criminal  code  was  taken  with  few  exceptions  from 
that  of  Massachusetts,  which  was  based  on  the  English  law. 
The  code  of  laws  was  put  into  shape,  as  has  been  said,  by 
Roger  Ludlow,  who  was  requested  to  "take  some  paynes  in 
drawing  forth  a  body  of  Lawes,"  by  the  General  Court  of 
April  9,  1646,  a  work  which  he  completed  in  four  years, 
taking  fourteen  articles  from  the  Body  of  Liberties  of  Massa- 
chusetts, adopted  in  1641 ;  but  sixty- three  of  the  articles 
were  new  and  distinct,  and  the  seventy-seven  articles  from 
the  hand  of  Ludlow  were  adopted  by  the  General  Court  in 
May,  1650,  and  the  only  recognition  of  his  great  service  is 
certified  by  a  minute  in  the  records  of  February  5,  1681: 
"This  Court  grants  and  orders  that  the  secretary  shall  be 
allowed  and  paid  the  sum  of  six  pounds,  being  in  p't  pay- 


Courts  and  La"ws  91 

ment  of  his  great  paines  in  drawing  out  and  transcribing 
the  country  orders,  concluded  and  established  in  May  last." 
There  is  no  record  of  a  compensation  to  Ludlow,  other  than 
the  statement  that  "it  is  the  mynd  of  the  Court  that  he  be 
considered  for  his  paynes."  Ludlow's  code  covers  fifty 
pages  of  the  Colonial  Records,  and  his  classification  was 
retained  until  1854,  when  fifty-eight  of  his  titles,  somewhat 
modified,  were  still  used,  Ludlow  vv^as  a  man  of  iron  will 
and  unyielding  integrity,  but  his  tongue  was  apt  to  express 
a  sharp  temper,  which  sometimes  "grew  into  a  passion," 
and  after  his  great  work  of  codifying  the  laws  ended,  he  left 
Connecticut,  In  1654,  he  carried  out  a  plan  he  had  defined 
at  Boston  twenty- two  years  before,  and  went  back  to  the 
mother-country,  settling  in  Dublin,  where  he  served  on  the 
first  Irish  commission  imder  Cromwell,  and  afterwards  was 
made  a  Master  in  Chancery. 

A  new  era  began  with  the  union  of  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven,  and  the  revised  code  went  into  effect  in  January, 
1664,  with  suffrage  limited,  punishments  still  tainted  by 
medievalism,  religious  freedom  unknown,  land  held  by 
tenures,  which  were  free  from  the  dangers  of  forfeiture,  since 
no  property  reverted  to  the  colony.  The  subject  of  educa- 
tion was  prominent  in  legislation  by  1672,  and  many  of  the 
regulations  then  passed  remained  in  force  for  two  hundred 
years.  Divorce  became  a  fruitful  cause  for  legislation,  and 
four  divorces  were  allowed  in  1653.  The  grounds  for  divorce 
given  in  1677,  at  a  time  when  no  divorces  were  granted  in 
any  other  Christian  coimtry,  were  adultery,  fraudulent  con- 
tract, willful  neglect  of  duty,  and  seven  years'  providential 
absence,  without  being  heard  from. 

In  the  preface  to  the  revision  of  1672,  it  was  declared 
that  it  was  not  the  purpose  of  the  planters  "to  impugn 
the  state  laws  of  England  so  far  as  we  understand  them," 
and  while  the  legislature  was  independent,  not  taking  the 
trouble  to  ask  what  was  the  law  of  England,  the  common 
law  of  the  mother-country  slowly  and  insidiously  grew  into 


92  j\  History  of  Connecticvit 

the  decisions  of  the  colony  as  the  lawyers  and  judges  here 
became  better  educated,  and  it  came  to  pass  that  Connecti- 
cut common  law  rested  on  English  common  law  in  recogni- 
tion of  its  wisdom  and  propriety.  The  declaration  of  the 
Fundamental  Orders  of  1639,  that  the  General  Court  should 
embody  the  supreme  power  of  the  commonwealth,  and  the 
bill  of  rights  in  the  code  of  1650,  by  which  no  person  should 
be  damaged  in  life,  liberty,  and  property,  "unless  it  be  by 
virtue  or  equity  of  some  express  law  of  the  county  warrant- 
ing the  same,  established  by  the  General  Court  and  suffi- 
ciently published,  or  in  the  case  of  the  defect  of  a  law  in  any 
particular  case  by  the  word  of  God,"  were  a  practical  repu- 
diation of  the  common  law.  It  was  the  intention  of  the 
settlers  to  base  the  government  on  a  code  and  in  harmony 
with  revealed  religion.  There  was  a  radical  departure  from 
English  methods,  in  equipping  the  government  with  an 
executive  head  without  power,  and  a  strong  legislature,  in 
combining  law-making  and  law-interpreting,  in  the  recogni- 
tion of  equality  among  men,  and  in  refusing  to  admit  classes, 
titles,  and  aristocracy,  though  there  was  quite  enough  of 
caste  in  many  communities. 

Primogeniture  rested  on  the  Mosaic  code,  and  was 
adopted  in  England  as  a  military  necessity  in  rude  times, 
but  it  was  never  adopted  in  Connecticut,  not  even  in  the 
code  of  1650,  which  permitted  all  persons  of  twenty-one 
years  to  make  such  wills  and  alienation  of  land  as  they  chose. 
The  law  of  1672,  provided  that  property  of  persons  dying 
intestate  should  be  divided  among  wife  and  children  accord- 
ing to  equity.  In  1699,  a  law  was  passed  in  Connecticut 
providing  that  there  should  be  an  equal  distribution  of  the 
whole  estate,  except  a  double  share  to  the  eldest  son.  This  act 
was  annulled  in  1727,  because  contrary  to  the  law  of  England, 
but  the  colony  never  paid  any  attention  to  the  annulment. 

In  May,  1776,  there  was  passed  what  has  been  called 
"the  most  important  statute  in  Connecticut  history."  It 
was  then  enacted  that  the 


A 

GENERAL   HISTORY 

XONNECTICUT, 

FROM    ITS 

Firft  Settlement  under  George  Fenwick,  Kfq. 


TO       ITS 


Latcft  Period  of  Amity  with  Great  Britain j 

INCLUDING 

A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  COUNTRY, 

And  many  curious   and   intcrefting  Anecdotes. 

To  which  13  added. 

An  AppENDijt,  wherein  new  and  the  true  Sources  of  the  prcfrnt 
Rebellion  in  America  are  pointed  out  ;  together  with  the  particu- 
Tar  I'art  taken  by  the  People  of  Corine>lVicut  in  its  Promotion. 

By  a  G  E  N  T  r.  E  M  A  NT  of  the  Province, 

Plus  afud  me  ratio  Tjaltbit^   qnam  ~JH^gi  opinio. 

Cic.  Parad.  i. 

LONDON: 

Printed  for  the  Author  ; 
And  loM  by  J.  Bew,   No.  28,    ?;»!« r- Nolle rRov/, 

M'.ICCLXXXI, 

Facsimile  of  the  Title-page  of  Peter's  History 

This  history  of  Connecticut  by  the  loyalist  Rev.  Samuel  A.  Peters  gave  occasion 

to  the  Connecticut  "  Blue  Law  "  tradition.     A  copy  of  the  first  edition, 

printed  in  London,  1781,  is  in  the  Connecticut  State  Library 


Covirts  and  La'ws  93 

form  of  Civil  Government  in  this  State  shall  continue  to  be 
established  by  charter  received  from  Charles  II.,  King  of  Eng- 
land, so  far  as  an  adherence  to  the  same  will  be  consistent  with 
the  absolute  independence  of  this  State  on  the  Crown  of  Great 
Britain,  and  that  all  officers  civil  and  military  heretofore  ap- 
pointed by  the  State,  continue  in  the  execution  of  their  several 
offices,  and  the  laws  of  this  State  shall  continue  in  force  until 
otherwise  ordered ;  and  that  for  the  future  all  writs  and  processes 
of  law  and  equity  shall  issue  in  the  name  of  the  governor  and 
company  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  that  in  all  summonses, 
attachments  and  other  processes  before  any  Assistants  or  Justices 
of  the  Peace,  "one  of  His  majesty's  Justices  of  the  Peace"  be 
omitted,  and  that  instead  thereof  be  inserted  "Justice  of  the 
Peace,"  and  that  no  writ  or  process  shall  have  or  bear  any  date, 
save  the  year  of  our  Lord  only,  any  law,  usage,  or  custom  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Of  all  the  laws  of  Great  Britain,  under  which  the  colonists 
lived  when  the  supreme  head  was  an  English  king,  only  one 
has  remained  in  force:  an  act  of  Parliament  passed  in  1762, 
establishing  the  Gregorian  calendar.  The  steadiness  of  the 
Connecticut  temper  is  seen  in  the  lack  of  radical  changes  in 
the  laws  up  to  the  Revolution.  After  the  revision  of  1702, 
forty  years  passed  before  there  was  another. 

There  has  long  been  a  keen  interest  in  the  Connecticut 
"Blue  Laws,"  and  after  years  of  attack  and  defense,  it  is 
possible  now  to  consider  the  subject  reasonably.  Before 
the  Revolution,  there  existed  the  phrase,  current  in  New 
York,  Massachusetts,  and  even  New  Haven — "Connecticut 
Blue  Laws."  It  is  a  colloquial  term  applied  to  severe  and 
antiquated  laws  found  on  the  statute  books  of  the  older 
colonies,  of  which  Connecticut  was  believed  to  possess  an 
unusually  stern  edition.  Soon  after  the  Revolution,  this 
state  was  made  still  more  conspicuous  by  the  publishing  of 
a  history  by  an  Episcopal  minister,  Samuel  Peters,  who  was 
bom  in  Hebron  in  1735,  became  rector  of  the  little  church 
in  his  native  town,  where  he  lived  until  the  Revolution. 


94  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

His  aggressive  loyalist  convictions  provoked  the  resentment 
of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  and  a  party  of  them  threatened 
him  with  tar  and  feathers,  and  compelled  him  to  promise 
to  refrain  from  meddling  with  political  affairs.  Repeated 
offenses  led  to  a  second  visit,  and  Peters,  putting  on  his 
priestly  robes,  addressed  the  crowd,  "quibbling  and  equivo- 
cating," as  the  story  comes  down  to  us  through  biased  minds, 
but  the  men  pressed  into  the  parsonage  and  found  loaded 
gtms  and  pistols.  Then  they  seized  Peters,  tearing  his 
clothes,  putting  him  in  a  cart,  they  hauled  him  by  his 
own  oxen  to  the  Green,  where  they  set  him  on  the  public 
horse-block,  and  forced  him  to  sign  a  declaration  and  con- 
fession that  he  repented  of  his  past  misdeeds,  and  promised 
that  he  would  give  no  further  cause  for  complaint.  He  was 
then  made  to  read  the  papers  aloud  to  the  crowd  and  give 
three  cheers.  Peters  says  that  the  mob  "destroyed  his 
windows,  rent  his  clothes,  almost  killed  one  of  his  church 
people,  tarred  and  feathered  two,  and  abused  others." 
Governor  Trumbull  ordered  the  civil  authority  at  Hebron 
to  "preserve  peace  and  good  order,  and  put  the  laws  in 
execution."  Peters  knew  he  would  be  safer  and  happier 
elsewhere,  and  he  soon  moved  to  Boston,  and  in  November, 
1774,  sailed  for  England,  sending  back  letters  to  friends  in 
Hebron,  but  spies  behind  stone  walls  overheard  his  messen- 
gers talk  about  the  letters,  and  securing  the  missives  of  the 
angry  minister  they  offered  the  unfortunate  letter-carriers  a 
whipping  or  running  the  gauntlet;  choosing  the  latter,  they 
became  the  objects  of  the  spite  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters 
of  Liberty  of  the  neighborhood,  and  were  glad  to  get  through 
with  their  lives. 

Peters  was  twenty  years  in  England,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising to  learn  that,  burning  with  rage  over  the  rough  treat- 
ment he  had  received,  he  published  in  1781,  a  history  of 
Connecticut,  which  no  one  can  read  without  seeing  that 
there  is  opportunity  for  self-control  and  judgment  in  coming 
to  a  conclusion  upon  the  Munchausen  writings  of  a  man  who 


O  cu 


Courts  and  La-ws  95 

speaks  of  the  water  at  Bellows  Falls  as  so  "consolidated  by 
pressure,  by  swiftness,  between  the  pinching,  sturdy  rocks, 
to  such  a  degree  of  induration  that  no  iron  crow  can  be  forced 
into  it,"  and  the  stream  is  "harder  than  marble."  He  also 
speaks  of  the  "infamous  villainy  of  Hooker,  who  spread 
death  upon  the  leaves  of  his  Bible,  and  struck  Connecticote 
(a  great  sachem)  mad  with  disease,"  and  of  the  conviction 
and  punishment  of  an  Episcopal  minister  in  1750,  for  break- 
ing the  Sabbath  by  walking  too  fast  from  church  and  comb- 
ing a  lock  of  his  wig  on  Sunday.  As  specimens  of  the  "  Blue 
Code  of  Connecticut,"  he  says,  it  "made  it  criminal  in  a 
mother  to  kiss  her  infant  on  the  Sabbath-day";  "Every 
male  shall  have  his  hair  cut  round  according  to  a  cap"; 
"No  one  shall  read  Common  Prayer,  keep  Christmas  or 
Saints-days,  make  minced  pies,  dance,  play  cards,  or  play 
on  any  instrument  of  music,  except  the  drum,  trumpet  and 
Jews'  harp."  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  irritated  Peters 
went  beyond  his  authorities  in  these  statements,  but  it  must 
also  be  said  that  in  the  large  majority  of  the  forty-five  laws 
which  he  collected,  there  was  a  basis  not  only  in  the  statutes 
of  New  Haven  and  Connecticut,  but  also  in  the  laws  and 
courts  of  Massachusetts,  whence,  as  we  have  noticed,  most 
of  the  Connecticut  laws  were  derived.  The  injustice  of  the 
Blue  Law  charge  is  in  singling  out  Connecticut  for  derision, 
and  in  publishing  four  ridiculous  laws  which  had  a  place 
only  in  Peters' s  heated  imagination.  In  1631,  Massachu- 
setts passed  a  law  that  no  man  should  court  a  maid  unless 
by  consent  of  the  parents,  and  Connecticut  borrowed  it. 
In  1647,  Massachusetts  passed  a  law  to  banish  Quakers, 
under  penalty  of  death  if  they  returned,  while  New  Haven 
never  threatened  Quakers  with  death,  but  gave  a  choice  of 
imprisonment,  banishment,  whipping,  and  branding,  with 
the  expenses  paid  by  the  resolute  visitors.  The  law  against 
card-playing  prevailed  in  Massachusetts  as  well  as  in  Con- 
necticut, and  as  late  as  18 12,  seven  young  men  in  New 
Haven  were  fined  for  violation  of  this  law.     The  law  that 


96  A  History  of  Connectic\it 

married  people  should  live  together  was  no  bluer  in  Con- 
necticut than  in  Massachusetts.  The  law  permitting  the 
rack  or  torture  in  examination  of  witnesses,  or,  as  we  should 
now  say,  "third  degree,"  was  a  law  of  Massachusetts  too, 
though  it  was  not  to  be  "inhumane." 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  more  than  the  faintest 
idea  of  the  regulations  in  the  different  towns,  ranging  from 
settling  a  minister  to  killing  blackbirds  and  rattlesnakes. 
Swine  appear  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  fruitful  topics. 
Innumerable  were  the  perplexities  that  came  up  year  after 
year.  Sometimes  they  were  ordered  to  be  rung  and  yoked; 
sometimes  to  be  confined,  then  again  they  could  go  at  large. 
Here  is  a  sample  vote  passed  in  Norwich:  "In  the  time  of 
acorns,  we  judge  it  may  be  profitable  to  suffer  swine  two 
months  or  thereabouts  to  go  in  the  woods  without  rings." 
Yokes  were  to  be  two  feet  in  length,  and  six  inches  above 
the  neck.  The  recording  of  cattle  marks  was  a  serious  task, 
and  necessary,  as  pasture  lands  were  held  in  common,  and 
private  fences  often  insecure.  These  marks  were  made  on 
the  ear,  and  were  a  cross,  a  half-cross,  and  various  kinds  of 
slits  and  notches.  The  towns  were  in  the  habit  of  making 
grants  of  land  to  those  who  promoted  public  improvement. 
Hugh  Amos,  who  in  1681,  first  established  a  ferry  over 
Shetucket  River,  received  one  hundred  acres  of  land.  Millers 
and  blacksmiths  were  so  valuable  that  they  were  given  prizes 
of  land.  In  1680,  Captain  Fitch  of  Norwich  was  granted  two 
hundred  acres  on  condition  that  he  build  a  saw  mill  in  a  cer- 
tain place.  Thomas  Harris  of  Glastonbury  received  in  1667, 
a  grant  of  forty  acres  of  land  on  condition  that  he  should 
build  a  saw  mill  in  Glastonbury.  There  was  much  confusion 
in  the  deeds  and  lines,  because  of  imperfect  surveys  and 
vague  and  contradictory  deeds.  Many  of  the  bounds  were 
transitory,  as  appears  when  one  considers  such  bounds  as 
these, — a  black  oak  with  a  crotch,  a  white  oak,  a  tree  with 
a  heap  of  stones  around  it,  a  bowlder,  a  clump  of  chestnuts, 
a  walnut  with  a  limb  lopped  off,  and  a  birch  with  a  gash  in  it. 


The  Tapping  Reeve  Law  School.     The  First  Law  School  in  the  Country 


Tapping  Reeve  (1744-1823) 
From  an  Old  Print 


Courts  and  La-ws  97 

Connecticut  has  had  many  distinguished  lawyers,  as 
might  be  imagined  from  the  quality  of  the  settlers,  the  con- 
ditions favoring  strong  individuality  and  the  establishment, 
in  1784,  of  the  first  American  law  school  in  Litchfield. 
Tapping  Reeve  was  the  founder  of  the  school,  and  after 
exerting  a  profound  influence  upon  successive  classes  of 
students  in  his  school,  he  became  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court,  and  then  chief  justice.  Reeve  was  a  man  who  "loved 
law  as  a  science  and  studied  it  as  a  philosopher."  It  was 
from  Litchfield  that  the  first  volume  of  reported  law  cases 
printed  in  the  United  States  appeared  in  1789.  Among  the 
graduates  of  the  school  were  five  Cabinet  ministers,  two 
justices  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  ten  governors 
of  states,  sixteen  United  States  senators,  fifty  members  of 
Congress,  forty  judges  of  the  higher  state  courts,  and  eight 
chief  justices  of  the  state. 

In  the  constitutional  convention  of  1787,  the  three 
lawyers  from  Connecticut,  Sherman,  Ellsworth,  and  John- 
son, contributed  keenness,  good  judgment,  and  experience. 
In  1789,  Oliver  Ellsworth  was  sent  to  represent  the  state 
at  the  first  session  of  the  Senate;  he  was  made  chairman 
of  the  judiciary  committee,  and  drew  up  the  act  of  Con- 
gress under  which  the  courts  of  the  United  States  were 
organized  after  the  pattern  found  in  Connecticut,  the 
merit  of  which  appears  in  the  fact  that  they  remained  sub- 
stantially unchanged  for  a  hundred  years.  In  1795,  Chief 
Justice  Swift  published  at  Windham  the  first  general  and 
systematic  treatise  on  the  laws  of  any  state,  it  being  the 
System  of  the  Laws  of  the  State  of  Connecticut.  In  18 10, 
Swift  became  the  author  of  the  first  American  treatise  on  the 
law  of  evidence,  it  being  also  the  first  American  case-book, 
for  use  in  legal  education,  and  in  1823,  he  published  the 
first  American  work  descriptive  of  the  whole  body  of  law 
and  equity. 

Jeremiah  Mason,  who  was  bom  in  Lebanon  in  1768, 
became  United  states  Senator  and  attorney-general  of  New 


98  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

Hampshire,  of  whom  Daniel  Webster  said:  "Of  my  own 
professional  discipline  and  attainments,  whatever  they  may 
be,  I  owe  much  to  that  close  attention  to  the  discharge  of 
my  duties,  which  I  was  compelled  to  pay  for  nine  successive 
years  from  day  to  day,  to  Mr.  Mason's  efforts  and  arguments 
at  the  same  bar."  Webster  said  also:  "Go  as  deep  as  you 
will,  you  will  always  find  Jeremiah  Mason  below  you." 
From  Bozrah  went  Reuben  H.  Hyde  to  be  chancellor  of 
New  York,  and  Story  called  him  "the  greatest  equity  judge 
of  his  time."  Lyme  has  furnished  three  chief  justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state,  Henry  M.  Waite,  Matthew 
Griswold,  Jr.,  and  Roger  Griswold ;  also  Judge  C.  J.  McCurdy 
and  M.  R.  Waite,  chief  justice  of  the  United  States. 

Connecticut  has  been  a  leader  in  making  law,  of  which 
there  are  three  important  instances  according  to  Simeon  E. 
Baldwin : 

1.  The  common  law  excluded  from  the  witness-stand 
every  one  who  had  a  pecuniary  interest  in  the  event  of  the  ac- 
tion. The  first  statute  to  abolish  the  rule  was  by  the  General 
Assembly,  in  1848,  and  the  author  of  the  reform  was  Justice 
McCurdy  of  Lyme,  who,  on  going  abroad  later  on  diplomatic 
service,  brought  it  to  the  attention  of  some  men  of  influence 
in  England;  in  1851,  Parliament  took  similar  action,  and 
every  other  state  in  the  Union  has  adopted  the  method  of 
McCurdy. 

2.  The  United  States  inherited  an  artificial  system  of 
legal  remedies,  and  in  1879,  Connecticut  enacted  a  brief 
"Practice  Act,"  leaving  all  details  to  be  worked  out  through 
rules  adopted  from  time  to  time  by  the  judges  of  the  higher 
courts.  Of  this  act  David  Dudley  Field,  an  author  of  the 
New  York  code,  said  that  it  was  the  best  form  yet  devised, 
and  it  has  remained  substantially  unchanged  for  thirty 
years. 

3.  In  1895,  Connecticut  took  action  to  prevent  the 
marriage  of  the  unfit,  extending  the  prohibition  to  paupers, 
epileptics,  and  imbeciles. 


REPORTS 


O  F 


CASES 

ADJUDGED    IN     THE 

SUPERIOR    COURT 

O  F     T  H   E 

State   of  ConneBicut. 

Fro  m    r  h  ;:   Y  \.  \  k    1 785,  to   M  a  v    1 788  ; 


WITH     SOME 


DETERMINATIONS 


I  M     THE 


SUPREME   COURT  OF   ERRORS. 


By  EPHRAIM  KIRBY,  Esquire. 


LITCHFIELD:  Printlddy  COLLIER  ^  ADAM. 

M,DCf,LXXXIX, 

Facsimile  of  the  Title-page  of  the  First  Published  Law  Reports  in 

America 

It  is  from  the  original  volume  in  the  possession  of  the  Connecticut  State  Library 


Courts  and  La-ws  99 

This  is  a  good  place  in  which  to  speak  of  the  seal  of  the 
state.  In  a  paper  by  Roger  Wolcott,  written  in  1759,  he  says 
that  his  stepfather,  Daniel  Clark,  secretary  of  the  colony 
between  1658,  and  1666,  told  him  that  the  seal  was  given 
the  colony  by  George  Fenwick,  agent  for  the  proprietors, 
under  the  Warwick  patent.  There  is  an  impression  of  this 
seal  in  the  State  Library;  it  is  in  wax  and  is  affixed  to  the 
commission  of  John  Winthrop  as  magistrate  of  New  London 
in  1647.  It  represents  a  vineyard  of  fifteen  vines,  with  a  hand 
above,  and  the  motto,  "Svstinet  qvi  transtvlit."  It  was 
ordered  in  1662,  that  the  seal  previously  used  remain  the  seal 
of  the  colony,  and  the  first  printed  revision  of  the  statutes 
made  in  1673,  had,  by  order  of  the  Assembly,  an  impression 
of  it  on  the  title  page.  When  Andros  took  the  government 
in  1687,  the  seal  disappeared,  and  Gershom  Bulkley  says 
John  Allyn  delivered  it  to  Andros.  When  the  charter 
government  was  resumed  in  1689,  a  larger  seal  was  made  with 
the  motto,  "Svstinet  qvi  transtvlit,"  and  no  further  change 
was  made  iintil  the  next  century  when  a  new  stamp  was 
ordered,  suitable  to  seal  wafers.  It  was  larger,  and  instead 
of  fifteen  vines,  it  had  but  three,  with  a  hand  pointing  to 
them,  and  on  a  label  below,  the  motto,  "Qvi  transtvlit 
svstinet."  Around  the  seal  are  the  words,  "Sigillvm 
Coloniae  Connecticensis."  In  1747,  the  Assembly  ordered 
that  the  oval  be  changed  to  a  circle,  and  engraved,  with 
corrections  of  mistakes,  but  nothing  was  done.  In  May, 
1784,  the  Assembly  voted  to  change  the  words  around  the 
seal  to"Sigill.  reip.  Connecticutensis,"  but  the  inscription 
was  cut  without  abbreviation,  though  the  shortened  form 
is  in  the  engravings  of  that  period.  In  October,  1784,  the 
new  seal  was  approved,  and  ordered  to  be  kept  by  the 
secretary.  In  the  constitution  of  1818,  it  was  ordered  that 
the  seal  be  not  altered,  and  now  there  are  two  seals:  one 
procured  in  1842,  for  sealing  with  wax  or  wafer,  a  seal  with 
three  clusters  of  grapes  on  each  vine,  made  of  brass;  the 
other,  used  on  paper,  without  wax,  and  declared  sufficient 


100 


A.  History  of  Connecticut 


in  1851 ;  supposed  to  have  been  obtained  in  1782.  The  first 
issue  of  bills  of  credit  in  1709,  has  the  seal  with  three  vines. 
When  small  bills  were  issued  in  1777,  a  small  seal  with  one 
vine  was  used;  it  was  used  also  in  the  secretary's  office  to 
seal  letters. 


Seals  of  Connecticut  and  Hooker's  Declaration 


This  collection  of  seals,  with  Hooker's  concise  statement  of  the  reason  for  the  migration  from 
Massachusetts  to  Connecticut,  is  the  central  panel  in  the  floor  in  Memorial  Hall  in  the  Con- 
necticut State  Library.  The  lower  seal  at  the  left  is  the  English  seal  used  during  colonial 
days;  that  at  the  right  of  this  was  in  use.  1711-1784.  The  upper  right-hand  seal  came 
into  use  in  1662,  and  disappeared  in  1787,  when  Andros  was  governor.  That  at  the  upper 
left  was  made  in  1784,  and  the  Constitution  of  1818,  declared  that  it  should  not  be  altered. 
It  is  now  in  use. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
HOW  THE  PEOPLE  LIVED  IN  THE  EARLY  DAYS 

HOWEVER  important  we  may  consider  a  clear  view  of  the 
settlement,  government,  and  courts  of  Connecticut, 
the  question  how  the  people  lived  appeals  to  most  of  us  more 
intimately.  The  story  is  an  interesting  one,  because  of  the 
vigor  of  the  actors  and  the  variety  and  strenuousness  of  the 
surroundings.  It  is  a  story  of  resolute  men  and  women 
making  their  way  into  a  stern  situation,  and  with  good  sense, 
ingenuity,  steady  nerves,  and  imconquerable  resolution 
carrying  their  task  through.  The  Puritans,  unable  to  re- 
form the  church  at  home,  and  unwilling  longer  to  brave  the 
hostility  of  William  Laud,  who  wielded  the  despotic  power 
of  the  star-chamber,  came  to  America  to  build  after  their 
own  ideas  a  state,  in  which  Christian  institutions  should 
exist  in  their  simplest  forms.  None,  save  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth,  had  renoimced  the  Church  of  England,  or  sepa- 
rated from  its  communion,  and  only  one  boat-load  of  these 
came  to  Connecticut,  faring  so  badly  at  Windsor,  that  their 
neighbors  at  Plymouth  preferred  to  bear  the  ills  there, 
rather  than  to  crowd  in  where  they  were  not  wanted.  The 
settlers  of  Connecticut  were  members  of  a  great  religious 
and  political  party,  in  an  age  when  every  man's  religion  was 
a  matter  of  political  regulation.  They  were  in  the  reforming 
party  in  church  and  state,  earnest,  determined,  practical 
men,  with  a  keen  sense  of  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the 
value  of  their  theory  of  civil  government.     Though  humble 

lOI 


102  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

before  God,  they  proposed  to  follow  their  convictions  with- 
out fear  or  favor.  They  were  plain,  shrewd,  straightfor- 
ward people,  who  usually  knew  what  they  wanted  to  do, 
and  went  at  once  to  the  point.  Even  their  burial  service 
suggests  their  dread  of  ceremony,  for  Lechford  says  of  the 
customs  about  1640:  "Nothing  is  read,  or  any  funeral 
sermon  made,  but  all  the  neighborhood,  or  a  good  com- 
pany of  them,  come  together  by  tolling  bell,  and  carry  the 
dead  solemnly  to  his  grave,  and  stand  by  while  buried." 
Their  seriousness  made  it  hard  for  them  to  enjoy  certain 
jokes  as  appears  from  a  record  of  1648,  as  follows:  "The 
Court  adjudgeth  Peter  Bussaker  for  his  filthy  and  profane 
expressions  (namely,  that  he  hoped  to  meete  some  of  the 
members  of  the  church  in  hell  ere  long,  and  he  did  not  but 
question  that  he  should)  to  be  committed  to  prison,  there 
to  be  kept  in  safe  custody,  till  the  sermon,  and  then  to  stand 
the  time  thereof  in  the  pillory,  and  after  the  sermon  to  be 
severely  whipped." 

There  is  a  type  of  mind  which  cannot  think  of  Puritan- 
ism save  as  "mere  acrid  defiance,  and  sanctimonious 
sectarianism,  nor  of  the  Puritans  save  as  a  band  of  ignorant 
and  half  crazy  zealots."  A  calmer  and  clearer  view  of  them 
leads  us  to  see  that  they  were,  as  Bradford  said,  "muskeeto 
proof, "  and  that  they  were  also  men  with  a  passion  for  God 
and  the  kingdom  of  heaven  which  often  gave  to  their  devo- 
tion to  righteousness  a  seriousness  which  easily  became 
sternness;  a  devotion  like  that  of  Cromwell,  a  keen  convic- 
tion of  the  sovereignty  of  God  as  the  absolute  and  invincible 
authority  over  all.  They  believed  that  things  are  right 
or  wrong  because  they  are  made  so  by  the  fiats  of  their 
infinite  Ruler  and  King.  That  they  were  not  depressed 
by  this  conception,  and  did  not  become  weak  and  dreamy, 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  with  their  practical,  Teutonic  ambi- 
tion for  trade  and  enterprise  they  had  too  much  else  to  do, 
and  while  they  were  idealists,  they  were  too  busy  to  become 
morbid,  and  had  too  much  common  sense  to  brood.     The 


Ho-w  tKe  People  Lived  in  tKe  Erarly  Days     103 

fashion  of  speaking  of  them  as  joyless  and  hopeless,  of 
dwelling  in  gloom  and  severity  upon  the  dismal  and  the  dis- 
agreeable, is  appropriate  for  a  mind  soured  as  was  that  of 
Samuel  Peters,  but  read  the  quaint  humor  of  that  sturdy 
age.  Notice  how  readily  the  writers  of  that  day  passed 
into  rhyme.  Husbands  and  wives  loved  each  other  as 
tenderly  as  now,  though  not  every  woman  could  express  her 
affection  for  her  husband  as  gracefully  as  Margaret  Win- 
throp.  "Faith  in  God,  faith  in  man,  faith  in  work,"  this, 
as  Lowell  says,  is  the  formula  which  sums  up  the  teaching 
of  the  founders  of  New  England.  Our  account  of  Puritan 
character  were  incomplete  without  reference  to  the  Blue 
Laws,  described  at  length  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and  to 
the  distorted  portraiture  Samuel  Peters  made  of  the  Con- 
necticut Puritans,  who  he  said  "out-pop'd  the  Pope,  out- 
king'd  the  King  and  out-bishop'd  the  Bishops." 

A  more  cheerful  view  of  the  seventeenth  century  in 
Connecticut  is  found  in  the  daily  life  of  the  Puritans.  There 
was  much  of  warfare  in  it ;  whether  their  axes  bit  their  way 
into  the  forest,  or  the  night  wind  brought  the  howl  of  the 
wolf — a  sound  dreaded  by  the  bravest — there  was  little  time 
for  reverie.  Governor  Leete,  while  chief  magistrate  of  the 
colony,  kept  a  coimtry  store  for  the  convenience  of  his 
neighbors  at  Guilford,  and  his  sons  were  taught  to  toil  in 
the  field.  Governor  Treat  was  as  well  skilled  in  the  faculty 
of  ploughing  a  cornfield,  or  mowing  a  field  of  grass,  as  in 
fighting  for  the  colony  or  defending  the  charter,  and  his 
father,  Richard  Treat,  one  of  the  first  men  in  the  colony, 
daily  crossed  the  Connecticut  in  a  boat  and  helped  break 
up  the  stiff  sward  of  Glastonbury.  Winthrop  endured 
severe  hardships  going  from  place  to  place  to  serve  as 
magistrate,  mediating  between  contending  parties,  pro- 
curing and  defending  land  titles,  and  fulfilling  the  office 
of  physician.  Industry,  frugality,  thrift,  and  honest  work 
were  wrought  into  the  foundations  of  the  commonwealth. 

The  earliest  houses  of   logs  soon  gave  way  to  frame 


I04  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

houses,  or  even  to  stone,  as  in  the  case  of  a  house  built  in 
1640,  in  Guilford,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Whitfield,  its  solid 
and  massive  walls  still  celebrating  the  fame  of  one  of  the 
founders  of  Guilford.  An  occasional  style  in  early  times 
was  the  old  plank  frame  dwellings,  whose  sides  were  com- 
monly of  two-inch  plank,  spiked  perpendicularly  to  the 
heavy  framework,  and  either  clapboarded  or  shingled  on  the 
outside.  There  was  little  studding  used  on  the  inside,  and 
even  the  partitions  were  often  of  inch  lumber  carried  from 
floor  to  cross-beams,  with  a  paneled  base.  In  the  central 
part  of  the  house  was  a  chimney  with  many  flues,  being 
about  twelve  feet  square  in  the  foundations,  and  sometimes 
containing  a  small  room  on  the  first  floor.  The  typical 
house  of  the  first  period  was  of  two  stories,  with  two  rooms 
in  each  story,  and  the  large  chimney  between.  On  one  side 
of  the  chimney  was  the  stairway  leading  to  the  second  story. 
The  cellar  usually  extended  under  only  a  part  of  the  house. 
The  frame  was  of  oak,  and  the  walls  were  not  sheathed, 
but  the  space  between  the  studs  was  often  filled  in  with 
clay  mixed  with  hay.  The  exterior  was  covered  with  wide 
clapboards,  and  the  hand-rived  shingles  on  the  roof  would 
last  one  hundred  years ;  those  on  the  roof  of  the  Farmington 
meeting-house  lasted  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  years. 
The  interior  was  ceiled,  or  sometimes  left  unfinished. 
Across  the  center  of  each  room  from  wall  to  chimney  ran 
an  immense  beam  parallel  with  the  front  of  the  house.  This 
beam  was  called  the  summer  or  the  summer-tree,  and  was 
either  boxed  in  or  left  as  the  axe  hewed  it.  In  many  of  the 
houses,  the  second  story  overhung  the  first,  and  was  over- 
hung by  the  attic.  The  overhanging  was  produced  in  this 
way:  the  corner  oaken  posts  were  placed  with  the  larger 
part  at  the  top,  and,  just  below  the  second  story,  a  part  of 
the  thickness  was  hewn  away,  leaving  a  scroll-like  ornament 
called  a  corbel,  and  the  second  story  projecting  over  the 
first  about  four  inches,  with  sometimes  a  pendant  at  the 
comer.     As  wealth  and  family  increased,  such  a  two-story 


Ho-w  tKe  People  Lived  in  tKe  E-arly  Days     105 

house  was  enlarged  by  extending  the  rear  roof  to  the  level 
of  the  first  story,  giving  a  place  for  three  rooms  behind  the 
original  two  rooms,  with  a  loft  above.  The  middle  room 
of  these  three  was  the  kitchen  with  its  capacious  fireplace, 
and  later  on  a  brick  oven  in  the  chimney,  in  which  number- 
less pies  were  baked.  One  of  the  other  rooms  was  a  pantry 
or  buttery,  and  the  third  a  bedroom.  Such  a  house  was 
called  a  lean-to,  or  in  some  places  a  salt-box  house  from  its 
resemblance  to  the  salt-box  hanging  in  the  chimney  comer. 
It  is  said  that  this  form  of  roof  was  adopted  to  avoid  an 
extra  tax. 

Not  far  from  the  time  that  the  lean-to  house  was  intro- 
duced the  gambrel  roof  came  into  fashion — so  named  be- 
cause of  its  fancied  resemblance  to  the  hind  leg  of  a  horse. 
After  a  time,  the  builders  began  to  put  in  two  chimneys 
and  have  an  entry  run  through  the  middle  of  the  house, 
though  many  conservatives  clung  to  the  older  style, 
often  the  lean-to  was  given  up,  and  instead  a  shed  was 
built.  Houses  were  usually  large,  as  lumber  was  plenty  and 
children  apt  to  be  numerous.  Fireplaces  were  commonly 
large.  The  Shipman  House  in  South  Glastonbury  contains 
a  fireplace  nine  feet  and  five  inches  in  length,  four  and  a 
half  feet  high,  three  feet  deep,  and  two  brick  ovens.  Often 
there  was  a  porch  in  front,  with  a  chamber  over  it.  That  of 
Thomas  Hooker,  had  a  porch,  and  the  chamber  over  it  was  the 
preacher's  study.  The  early  houses  were  often  built  of  wood 
put  up  cob-house  fashion,  or  having  posts  at  the  corners  with 
small  branches  of  trees  between,  and  clay  mixed  with  hay. 
These  chimneys  were  lined  with  clay,  and  were  inspected 
often  by  the  chimney-viewers.  Brick  chimneys  were  in  the 
houses  of  the  wealthy,  but  catted  chimneys,  as  those  we  have 
just  described  were  called,  were  common.  In  Hartford,  it 
was  voted  in  1640,  that  "every  householder  shall  provide 
a  sufficient  ladder  standing  at  his  houseside,  reaching  to 
the  ridge  of  his  house,  or  within  two  feet,  by  his  chimney." 
Chimney-viewers  were  to  examine  the  chimneys  every  six 


io6  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

weeks  in  winter  and  every  quarter  in  summer.  It  was  also 
ordered  in  1640,  that  "Jo  Gening  shall  sweep  all  chimneys, 
and  have  6d  for  brick  and  3d  for  clay." 

Later,  there  was  a  change  in  the  style  of  building  houses, 
and  the  house  of  Colonel  Joseph  Pitkin,  built  in  1726,  in 
East  Hartford  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  substantial  homes 
before  the  Revolution.  It  was  built  after  the  old  scribe 
method  by  which  every  stud  or  piece  of  timber  was  marked 
or  scribed  for  the  particular  place  it  was  to  occupy.  The 
sills  were  of  oak,  forty-one  feet  long,  eight  by  ten  inches. 
The  building  had  oak  posts  nine  by  nine  inches  at  the  bot- 
tom and  ten  by  fifteen  inches  at  the  top,  being  mortised  about 
half-way  up  to  receive  the  cross-beams  of  white  oak,  eight 
by  twelve  inches.  The  beams  were  thirty  feet  long  and 
carried  the  weight  of  the  second  floor  without  any  studding 
to  support  them.  The  interior  finish  was  heavy  paneling 
of  native  yellow  and  white  pine.  The  main  plates  were 
of  white  oak  forty-one  feet  long  and  seven  inches  square, 
which  were  securely  framed  into  the  posts.  The  king 
rafters  were  of  white  oak,  five  by  six  inches  and  twenty-two 
feet  long.  Some  of  the  boards  were  twenty-six  inches  wide, 
and  there  were  five  large  fireplaces.  Several  of  the  sleeping 
rooms  had  beds  the  posts  of  which  were  mortised  into  the 
floor  and  extended  to  the  ceiling,  supporting  a  framework 
from  which  draped  a  heavy  curtain.  The  house  was  studded 
with  three-by-four  oak  studs,  mortised  into  the  sills  and 
plates,  to  which  were  nailed  the  sheathing  boards,  the  edges 
of  the  sheathing  being  beveled  so  as  to  make  a  tight  joint, 
and  then  reinforced  by  an  inner  sheathing  upon  which  the 
laths  were  nailed  to  receive  the  inner  finish  of  plaster. 
Paper  was  in  use  before  the  Revolution,  and  in  the  room 
in  the  Webb  House  in  Wethersfield  in  which  Washington 
rested,  the  paper  was  imported  from  England,  and  is  rich 
and  heavy.  Nails,  hinges,  and  latches  were  hammered  out 
on  the  anvil. 

Coming  now  to  the  food  of  the  people,  we  start  with  the 


Ho-w  tKe  People  Lived  in  tKe  E-arly  Days     107 

breakfast  of  the  farmers,  which  often  consisted  of  a  soup 
made  of  salt  meat  and  beans,  seasoned  with  herbs, — a  dish 
called  beaii-porridge.  Dinner  was  the  substantial  meal, 
and  was  served  at  noon;  a  large  Indian  meal  pudding,  with 
an  appropriate  sauce,  was  often  the  first  course,  and  was  so 
filling  that  the  boiled  beef  or  pork  which  followed  was 
attacked  less  ravenously,— a  prudent  expedient,  as  meat 
was  not  always  plentiful,  though  those  living  near  river  and 
Sound  could  easily  obtain  fish,  and  at  certain  seasons 
game  was  abundant.  The  waters  teemed  with  fish,  and 
both  salmon  and  shad  were  caught  in  great  numbers,  and 
salted  for  home  and  foreign  use.  It  was  an  occasional 
custom  of  apprentices,  in  binding  themselves  to  their 
masters,  to  stipulate  that  salmon  should  not  be  served  oftener 
than  twice  a  week;  and  at  times  shad  were  so  plenty  and 
cheap,  that  it  was  considered  disreputable  for  any  but 
"poor  folks  to  eat  shad."  In  all  but  the  most  wealthy 
families,  food  was  cooked  in  the  apartment  where  it  was 
eaten,  at  the  large  fireplace,  and  a  trammel  in  the 
chimney,  by  means  of  its  hook,  which  could  be  moved  up 
or  down,  held  the  kettle  at  the  right  distance  above  the 
fire.  At  one  end  of  the  fireplace  there  came  in  time  an  oven, 
and  there  were  also  the  gridiron,  a  long-handled  frying-pan, 
and  a  spit  for  roasting  before  the  fire.  At  the  end  of  the 
room  were  pewter  platters,  porringers,  and  basins,  also  a  brass 
ladle,  skimmer,  colander,  and  warming-pan.  A  brew-house 
was  a  necessity,  and  beer  as  often  on  the  table  as  bread. 
Seeds  of  vegetables  were  imported,  and  while  potatoes  were 
regarded  with  suspicion  for  many  years — making  their  entry 
into  the  menu  at  about  1720,  and  used  sparingly — turnips 
were  much  enjoyed,  as  were  peas,  beans,  and  pumpkins. 
Succotash,  name  and  dish  borrowed  from  the  Indians,  was 
soon  popular  in  August  and  September,  when  Indian  com 
was  in  the  milk  and  beans  were  plenty.  Hasty  pudding, 
consisting  of  boiled  meal  of  com  or  rye,  and  sweetened  with 
molasses  or  maple  syrup  on  the  table,  was  a  common  food. 


lo8  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

Brown  bread,  "rye  and  injun,"  a  mixture  of  two  parts  com- 
meal  and  one  part  rye,  was  the  bread  of  the  majority  of  the 
people. 

Very  substantial  food  was  served  at  supper.  It  was 
almost  always  cold,  with  an  occasional  variation  of  cakes 
of  corn-meal,  rye,  or  buckwheat.  Samp  and  hominy  were 
enjoyed  by  both  Indians  and  English.  Baked  beans  formed 
a  nourishing  food  from  early  times  and  the  favorite  time 
for  them  was  Saljurday  night.  The  regular  dinner  on 
Saturdays  (not  on  Fridays,  which  would  have  savored  of  the 
papacy)  was  salted  codfish.  The  dishes  were  of  pewter, 
wood,  and  crockery,  though  there  was  not  much  of  the  last 
for  many  years.  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth,  who  was  bom  in 
Windsor  in  1745,  told  his  son  that  when  he  was  a  boy  "all 
ate  upon  wooden  trenchers,  that  manners  were  then  so 
coarse  and  such  as  would  now  in  many  respects  prove 
disgusting,  that  men  in  Windsor  assembled  in  each  other's 
houses  and  would  drink  out  a  barrel  of  cider  in  one  night." 
Silver  tankards,  cups,  and  spoons  were  owned  by  the  wealthy, 
but  cups,  platters,  and  pitchers  were  usually  of  pewter.  At 
one  house  a  broken  pewter  spoon  was  given  to  Washington, 
with  which  to  eat  bread  and  milk,  he  gave  the  maid  two 
shillings  to  borrow  a  silver  spoon,  and  she  found  one  at  the 
minister's. 

Yankee  cooks  early  achieved  a  skill  that  made  them 
famous  the  world  over,  and  before  long  they  became  experts 
with  berries  of  all  kinds,  also  with  plums,  nuts,  grapes,  and 
apples,  which  were  put  into  all  kinds  of  preserves,  pickles,  and 
syrups.  There  was  little  money  in  circulation,  and  little 
was  needed,  as  most  of  the  living  came  from  forest,  field, 
and  river.  One  cone  of  sugar,  weighing  ten  or  fifteen  pounds, 
with  honey,  molasses,  and  maple  syrup  would  sweeten  a 
family  for  a  year.  The  art  of  making  the  syrup  was  learned 
from  the  Indians,  who  made  it  in  large  quantities. 

Wind  and  water  were  used  from  early  times,  though  the 
timber  of  the  earliest  days  was  sawn  in  saw-pits,  the  "top- 


Ho-w  tHe  People  Lived  in  tKe  Early  Days     109 

sawyer"  standing  on  the  timber,  and  the  "pitman"  beneath 
it.  Clapboards  were  split  with  axes  and  wedges.  In  1677, 
Wethersfield  gave  Gershom  Bulkley,  their  new  minister, 
"liberty  to  make  a  mill  pond,"  since  it  was  informed  that 
he  was  "minded  to  build  a  come  mill."  Wind  as  a  motive 
power  was  used  in  grist-mills  to  some  extent.  Brick  mills 
were  in  early  use;  in  1653,  Samuel  Dickenson,  a  youth  of 
sixteen,  was  employed  by  Matthew  Williams  of  Wethers- 
field to  assist  in  making  bricks,  and  was  paid  sixpence  a 
day  "in  wampum."  In  1635,  the  Court  established  the 
size  of  bricks.  Tanning  and  curing  the  skins  of  cattle,  sheep, 
and  goats  was  an  important  industry,  regulated  by  law  as 
early  as  1640.  Farmers  usually  took  the  pelts  of  the 
slaughtered  animals  to  the  local  tanneries,  and  from  the 
hides  had  boots,  shoes,  and  other  useful  articles  made,  as 
the  needs  called. 

There  were  few  wheeled  carriages,  besides  the  rude  ox- 
cart, until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  not 
many  until  after  the  Revolution.  It  is  with  a  feeling  of 
surprise  that  we  read  in  the  will  of  Jabez  Hamlin  of  Middle- 
town,  probated  in  1788,  of  the  bequest  of  "sleigh  and  riding 
chair"  to  his  widow;  that  carriage  must  have  been  an  un- 
usual feature  in  the  quiet  town.  The  first  pleasure  carriage 
in  Litchfield'  was  in  1776,  and  was  owned  by  a  prisoner  of 
war.  The  bridegroom  carried  his  bride  home  on  a  pillion 
behind  him,  if  he  had  not  asked  a  neighbor  to  be  his  help- 
meet, and  the  Sunday  worshipers  from  a  distance  rode  on 
horseback,  or  went  afoot;  in  winter,  sleds  drew  the  devout 
worshipers  to  the  icy  meeting-house,  where  the  patient 
hour-glass  measured  off  the  long  sermons,  communion 
bread  sometimes  froze,  and  the  foot-stoves  gave  a  slight 
relief. 

The  militia  in  the  early  period  covered  all  of  the 
sterner  sex  between  sixteen  and  sixty,  except  those  who 
were  exempt,  and  men  were  expected  to  provide  arms  and 
ammiinition   at   their   own   expense,    if   possible.     Soldiers 


no  j\  History  of  Connecticvit 

wore  corselets  and  coats  quilted  with  cotton.  They  car- 
ried pikes,  matchlocks,  swords,  a  pair  of  pouches  for  pow- 
der and  bullets,  and  a  rest,  on  which  to  poise  the  heavy- 
musket  when  firing.  The  pikes  were  ten  feet  long.  The 
train-band  was  the  unit  of  the  army,  varying  in  number 
from  fifty-four  to  two  hundred.  There  were  twice  as  many 
musketeers  as  pikemen,  the  latter  being  of  superior  stature ; 
trainings  began  and  closed  with  prayer. 

The  prominence  of  warfare  is  suggested  by  the  preva- 
lence of  military  titles.  Previous  to  1654,  captain  was  the 
highest  office  in  the  colony.  Captain  John  Mason  of  Windsor 
was  the  first  officer  of  that  high  rank  in  Connecticut;  and 
he  was  a  noble  specimen,  tall,  portly,  soldier-like,  with  the 
proud  consciousness  of  having  served  in  the  Netherlands, 
under  William  of  Orange.  Wherever  he  went,  the  boys 
and  girls  looked  up  to  him  as  though  he  were  a  visitor  from 
a  superior  planet.  Only  a  few  were  called  "Mister"  or 
"Missis";  the  common  word  for  a  person  above  servitude 
and  below  gentility  was  "Goodman"  or  "Good wife," 
sometimes  "Goody."  In  New  Haven  colony  "Brother" 
was  the  common  title  in  early  days.  There  was  a  decided 
nasal  prevalent,  a  "Puritan  heirloom"  due  possibly  to  the 
climate,  which  fosters  a  chronic  cold  in  the  head . 

From  earliest  times,  the  smithy  was  prized,  as  axes, 
chisels,  shovels,  picks,  hoes,  nails,  spikes,  bolts,  and 
iron  bars  were  fashioned  there,  as  well  as  shoes  for  oxen 
and  horses.  Charcoal  was  in  common  use,  and  coal-pits 
abounded  in  the  forests.  Cordage  was  manufactured  from 
hemp  for  the  rigging  of  ships  from  an  early  time.  Hemp 
was  raised  in  Wethersfield  as  early  as  1640.  Fulling  mills 
came  in  the  seventeenth  century ;  carding  and  weaving  were 
done  by  hand,  and  there  were  looms  for  weaving  serges, 
kerseys,  flannels,  fustians,  linsey-woolseys,  tow-cloth,  dimi- 
ties, and  jeans;  flax  and  hemp  were  the  earliest  materials, 
and  after  wolves  were  subdued,  wool  came  into  use.  The 
dress  was  plain  homespun  and  leather,  and  leather  breeches 


Ho"w  tHe  People  Lived  in  tHe  E.arly  Days     iil 

were  so  full  and  free  in  girth,  that  the  front  could  be  changed 
to  the  rear  when  signs  of  wear  appeared.  In  winter,  the 
coats  of  homespun  were  proof  against  wind  and  rain.  The 
well-to-do  were  dressy,  wearing  shoes  of  buff  leather,  and 
through  the  slashes  could  be  seen  scarlet  or  green  stockings. 
Buckles  of  pinchbeck  and  silver  ornamented  with  garnets  were 
worn  at  the  knee  and  on  the  shoe.  Ladies  wore  elegant  shoes, 
mourning  shoes,  fine  silk  shoes,  flowered  russet  shoes,  shoes 
of  black  velvet,  white  damask,  red  morocco,  and  red  ever- 
lasting; damask  worsted  shoes  in  red,  blue,  green,  pink,  and 
white;  shoes  of  satinet  with  flowers  in  the  vamp.  Those 
who  could  afford  it  wore  silks,  velvets,  and  beaver;  red  was 
a  favorite  colour,  with  blue  as  a  close  second;  red  cloaks 
were  the  top  of  a  tireless  fashion.  Coats  of  red  cloth  were 
much  worn  by  the  men,  with  long  vests  of  plush  in  various 
colors;  and  plush  breeches  with  no  suspenders.  The  test 
of  a  well-formed  man  was  his  ability  to  keep  his  breeches 
above  his  hips,  and  his  imgartered  stockings  above  his 
calves.  In  the  earliest  times  men  wore  the  sugar-loaf  hat; 
but  later,  the  hats  usually  had  broad  brims,  turned  up  into 
three  comers.  Laborers  wore  a  coarse  linen  for  shirts,  and 
striped  breeches  of  the  same  material ;  working  women  wore 
petticoats  and  half  gowns,  drawn  about  the  waist  with 
a  cord.  Hats  were  made  of  wool,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  in  every  town  who  took  off  a  costly  "black  beaverett" 
at  the  church  door.  The  poorer  sort  of  people  wore  a 
cap,  knit  from  woolen  yam.  The  coat  was  made  with  a 
long,  straight  body,  falling  below  the  knee,  and  with  no 
collar,  so  that  the  band,  or  neckcloth  of  spotless  linen, 
fastened  behind  with  a  silver  buckle,  was  clearly  seen.  Red 
woolen  stockings  were  much  admired.  The  shoes  were 
coarse,  square-toed  and  adorned  with  large  buckles,  and  if 
any  boots  appeared,  they  made  a  heavy  thumping  passing 
up  the  aisles. 

In  the  years  before  the  Revolution,  Connecticut  was  not 
celebrated  for  its  economy.     There  was  a  passion  for  gather- 


112  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

ing  and  hoarding  articles  of  attire.  A  woman  had  an  am- 
bition to  have  a  chestful  of  linen.  Here  is  an  inventory  of 
the  possessions  of  a  Norwich  lady  in  1757.  There  were 
gowns  of  brown  duroy,  striped  stuff,  plain  stuff,  black  silk, 
crepe,  calico  and  blue  camelot;  a  scarlet  cloak,  blue  cloak, 
satin  flowered  mantle  and  scarf:  a  camlet  riding  hood, 
long  silk  hood,  velvet  hood,  white  hood  trimmed  with 
lace,  and  nineteen  caps;  also  sixteen  handkerchiefs  and 
fourteen  aprons,  together  with  fan,  necklace  and  cloak 
clasps.  In  1760,  gowns  began  to  be  worn  with  close-fitting 
bodice,  and  skirt  sewed  on  with  a  multiplicity  of  fine 
gathers;  with  petticoats  beautifully  quilted.  Every  lady  of 
fashion  wore  an  ornamental  case  suspended  from  the  waist, 
in  which  were  thimble,  scissors,  and  scent-bottle.  Snuff-box 
and  pomander  for  both  sexes  were  elegant  features  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  As  early  as  1766,  French  fashions 
began  to  decorate  the  ladies  and  empty  pocketbooks. 
Artificial  flowers  were  much  worn.  The  calash  was  a 
charming  article  of  dress  on  the  head  of  a  pretty  girl;  one 
"looked  down  a  green  lane  to  see  a  rose  blooming  at  the 
end."  Skirts  were  expanded  by  hoops,  three  or  four  feet 
across.  For  great  occasions,  the  hair  was  sometimes  tor- 
tured for  four  hours,  and  ladies  would  sleep  in  a  sitting 
posture  to  avoid  disturbing  the  majestic  sugar-loaf  creation. 
Wigs  were  worn  for  years  with  long  queue,  or  ending  in  a 
silk  bag  behind. 

Furniture  was  substantial;  the  cherry  desks,  high-boys, 
low-boys,  chests  of  drawers  and  oaken  chairs  suggest  a 
sterling  age.  There  was  one  extravagance  which  the 
Puritans  were  slow  to  give  up,  and  that  was  the  habit  of 
wearing  expensive  boots  and  shoes.  Ephraim  Williams 
of  Wethersfield  was  a  maker  of  fine  boots  and  shoes,  and  his 
account-book  for  1746-60  has  come  down  to  us.  It  gives 
prices  which  seem  extravagant  in  these  economical  times. 
Colonel  Israel  Williams  of  Hartford  paid  him  four  pounds 
for  a  pair  of  double-channeled  pumps,  and  for  a  pair  of 


An    A[ironomical    DIART^ 

OR,     AN 

ALMANACK 

for  the  Tear  of  our  Lord  Christ, 

17  5  3* 

Being  the  firO  after  Bissextile*  or  Leap- 
Year  :  And  in  the  Twtnty-Sixth  Year 
of  the  Kcign  of  our  moft  Gracious  Sovc* 
reign     Kino     GEORGE     //. 

Wherein  is  contained  the  Lunations^  Eclipfes, 
Mutual  Afpcds  of  the  Planet?,  Sun  and 
Mooa'sRifiug.&Setting^Riring,  Settings 
Southing  ot  the  Seven  Stars,  Time  ot  H  igh  ■ 
Water,  Courts,  Obfervable  Days,.  Spring 
Tides,  Judgment  of  the  Weather,  l3c. 

CiIculatedforthcLat.of4i  Deg.Nort}),&the 
Meridian  oi  New- London  in  Con  n  e ct  i  cu t  . 

bJH  OGE  R~  SHERMAN. 


Time  fprung  fromDaiknefs,&  from  aucicntNlghf 
A  ad  rofh'd  along  wi<h  the  ftrft  ReamSof  Li^hc  J 
n  .^o/'i  bright  C'/tr»*  h«  rcis*d    the   flowing    reins. 
And  drfiv?  hUi  Courfers tlno'    the  i^fhcrcslPlains, 
Whofe  Radiant  Bc4nis  iffed  oiir  feeble  Eyes 
Arid  fill  our  M«nd»  with  Wonder  and    Sufpri«e, 
And  Itill  his  Whdels  on  their  fyvift  Axlex  Roll 
With  eager  h«fte  to  reach  the  deftin'd    GoaI  V 
Faft  as  t)ie  Winds  their  rapid  Courfe  they    bend, 
Croud  on  ^hc  Scenes  to  bring  the   fat^i  End. 

^'^new-Xon1)On7 

Printed  &  Sold  by  T.G  R  E  e  K<    17  SZ- 


Facsimile  Title-page  of  a  Roger  Sherman  Almanac 

The  volume  is  in  the  Library  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society 


Ho-w  tHe  People  Lived  in  tKe  Elarly  Days     113 

double-channeled  boots  the  price  was  fourteen  pounds;  an 
enormous  price,  but  there  was  leather  enough  in  a  pair  for 
six  pairs  of  shoes,  and  those  great  hand-made,  square-toed 
casings  would  last  years,  and  perhaps  become  heirlooms. 

For  most  of  the  people  life  was  simple,  neighborly,  and 
without  parade.  Quarters  of  beef,  veal,  and  lamb  were  ex- 
changed ;  wages  of  imskilled  labor  in  the  earlier  years  were 
two  shillings  a  day,  and  double  that  after  the  Revolution. 
There  was  no  glass  on  the  table  to  break,  no  tablecloth  to 
wear  out,  no  china  to  nick;  sand  was  good  enough  for  the 
parlor  carpet,  and  fashions  came  to  stay.  No  description 
of  the  early  life  of  Connecticut  would  be  complete  without  a 
reference  to  the  almanac,  for  the  Bible  and  almanac  were 
necessary  in  every  home.  Long  before  the  almanac  became 
a  composite  of  information  on  sun  and  moon  phases,  pills, 
salves,  jokes,  and  bitters,  it  held  the  place  of  a  small  en- 
cyclopedia of  knowledge  concerning  the  heavenly  bodies, 
court  and  freemen's  meetings,  interest  tables,  distances 
from  tavern  to  tavern,  prophecies  about  the  weather,  texts 
of  sermons,  household  receipts,  date  of  neighbor's  birth, 
wedding,  or  death,  when  the  big  storm  occurred,  the  great 
tree  blew  down,  and  the  sheep  went  to  pasture.  The  first 
Connecticut  man  to  compile  an  almanac  was  John  Tully 
of  Saybrook  Point,  and  his  series  continued  from  1687,  to 
1702,  and  at  the  latter  date,  he  "dyed  as  he  was  finishing 
this  Almanack." 

In  1750,  Roger  Sherman  brought  out  an  almanac;  he 
continued  the  series  until  1761.  One  gains  fresh  confidence 
in  Sherman's  uncommon  common  sense  as  he  reads  his 
prophecy  of  the  weather  for  December  2,  1754,  "Freezing 
cold  weather,  after  which  comes  storm  of  snow,  but  how 
long  after  I  don't  say." 

There  were  then  two  ways  of  reckoning  time:  the  his- 
torical, which  began  on  the  first  of  January,  and  the 
ecclesiastical  year,  which  began  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
March.     In    the    earlier    seventeenth    century    almanacs 


114  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

March  appears  first  while  January  and  February  follow 
December.  This  accounts  for  the  double  dates  found  in 
books  of  that  period.  In  1709,  Thomas  Short  established 
the  first  printing-press  in  Connecticut ;  it  was  set  up  in  New 
London,  and  that  year  an  almanac  by  Daniel  Travis  ap- 
peared with  the  New  London  imprint. 

In  the  practice  of  medicine  the  doctors  were  helped  out 
by  the  Indians,  but  more  by  the  home-made  remedies  in 
which  "roots  and  herbs"  played  a  leading  part.  Since 
doctors  charged  extra  fee  when  bleeding  was  resorted  to, 
it  is  not  perhaps  strange  that  the  physicians  discovered  fre- 
quent need  of  letting  out  blood  that  the  disease  might  have 
less  to  feed  upon.  Bills  were  not  very  high,  as  appears  from 
the  bill  of  Dr.  Caleb  Bushnell  of  Norwich  in  1723,  "tords 
the  cure  of  Christian  Challenge: 

To  3  travells  7        6 

to  Lusisalig  Bolsum     4         o 
to  3  times  bleeding      i         6" 

Fresh  air  was  considered  dangerous  for  the  sick,  especially 
night  air,  and  cooling  drinks  for  fevered  lips  nearly  fatal. 
Dentistry  was  an  undiscovered  country,  except  as  the  family 
physician  wrenched  out  a  tooth  by  aid  of  an  instrument  of 
torture  called  a  turn-key. 

The  first  artificial  light  used  by  the  settlers  was  the  pine 
torch,  the  idea  coming  from  the  Indians.  Then  came 
"  candle- wood, "  sections  of  dry  pine  logs,  cut  into  lengths  of 
eight  inches  and  split  thin,  which  were  used  for  carrying 
about  the  house  and  to  read  by,  although  the  pitchy  drip- 
pings were  trying.  In  1696,  Farmington  voted  that  no 
inhabitant  should  be  prohibited  from  felling  pine  trees  for 
candle  wood,  and  Higginson  wrote: 

Yea,  our  pine  trees  that  are  the  most  plentiful  of  all  wood,  doth 
allow  us  plenty  of  candles  which  are  very  useful  in  a  house;  and 
they  are  such  candles  as  the  Indians  use  and  no  other,  and  they  are 


^Jf. . 


Ho"w  tKe  People  Lived  in  tKe  E-arly  Days     115 

nothing  else  but  the  wood  of  the  pine  tree  cloven  into  little  slices, 
something  thin,  which  are  so  full  of  the  moisture  of  turpentine 
and  pitch,  that  they  burn  as  clear  as  a  torch. 

By  1660,  candle-making  was  a  common  task  for  housewives, 
and  deer  and  bear  suet  was  mixed  with  beef  tallow;  wax 
also  was  furnished  by  the  bees.  Rushlights  were  used 
instead  of  candles,  when  a  slight  flame  would  do,  and  they 
were  formed  by  dipping  rushes  in  tallow.  Fats,  grease,  and 
table  refuse  were  combined  with  vegetable  oils  and  used  in 
the  old  Betty  lamps,  and  for  a  century  and  a  half  beginning 
with  1690,  the  oil  in  common  use  in  lamps  was  crude  whale 
oil. 

There  was  plenty  of  hard  work  in  the  early  years,  and  one 
only  needs  to  think  of  the  toil  connected  with  making  cloth 
to  see  that  the  united  energies  of  the  whole  family  were  en- 
listed. After  the  men  had  raised  and  harvested  the  flax, 
it  was  no  easy  task  to  break  and  swingle  stubborn  fiber 
before  the  hands  of  the  women  could  hatchel  and  card  it. 
Then  it  was  wearisome  to  cleanse,  separate,  and  comb  out 
the  matted  fleece.  Children  and  grandparents  were  en- 
listed to  wind  the  quills  and  turn  the  reels,  while  grown-up 
daughters  and  sturdy  matrons  accomplished  their  "day's 
work"  at  loom  or  spinning-wheel.  At  length  the  household 
was  supplied  with  sheeting,  blankets,  towels,  coverlets, 
heavy  woolen  cloth  for  winter  wear,  and  tow-cloth,  linsey- 
woolseys,  and  ginghams  for  the  summer.  Families  were 
large,  and  there  was  much  good-fellowship  in  the  neighbor- 
hoods except  when  quarrels  raged,  and  then  the  people  were 
vigorous  haters.  There  were  many  pleasures  mingled  with 
the  anxieties  and  hard  work;  the  people  enjoyed  going  to 
church,  and  their  nerves  were  so  deep  that  they  were  not 
fretted  by  long  sermons.  If  bad  came  to  worse  they  could 
drop  ofif  to  sleep,  provided  they  evaded  the  watchful 
tithing-man  with  his  long  pole  with  a  squirrel's  tail  at  the 
end  of  it.     Domestic  and  neighborly  festivities,  such  as  husk- 


Ii6  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

ings  and  raisings,  were  merry  occasions,  and  flip  increased 
the  hilarity.  Thanksgiving  was  a  delightful  home  feast, 
and  training  days  were  bright  spots  in  quiet  lives.  There 
was  a  kind  of  spice  given  to  their  humdrum  existence  by  the 
many  signs  and  superstitions  they  watched  and  were  pos- 
sessed by.  We  shall  notice  later  the  witchcraft  epidemic, 
but  must  refer  here  to  the  fear  lest  the  moon  be  looked  at 
over  the  left  shoulder,  and  the  anxiety  to  plant  vegetables 
and  butcher  steer  or  pig  in  the  right  phases  of  the  moon. 
Potatoes,  carrots,  and  beets,  growing  under  the  surface,  were 
planted  in  the  "dark of  the  moon,"  and  com,  peas,  and  beans 
in  the  "light  of  the  moon."  Then,  too,  pig  or  steer  must  be 
slain  when  the  moon  was  waxing,  otherwise  it  would  "shrink 
in  the  pot."  Brush  was  cut  "when  the  moon  was  in  the 
heart";  to  see  an  odd  number  of  crows  was  lucky;  when  a 
cow  was  lost,  a  stick  was  set  on  end  and  let  fall  to  see  in 
which  direction  she  went;  it  was  supposed  that  the  place 
to  dig  for  water  could  be  discovered  by  a  piece  of  hazel, 
which  would  turn  toward  the  springs.  A  story  went  the 
rounds  of  a  scoffer,  who  started  to  build  a  ship  on  Friday; 
named  it  Friday,  launched  it  Friday,  set  sail  on  Friday  and 
was  never  heard  from  again.  To  spill  salt  was  sign  of  a 
quarrel,  but  if  a  little  were  thrown  over  the  right  shoulder, 
the  danger  was  averted.  There  were  haunted  houses  in 
most  of  the  towns,  and  demons  were  supposed  to  inhabit 
lonely  roads  to  terrify  travelers. 

One  of  the  most  laughable  events  of  those  credulous 
years  was  the  so-called  Battle  of  the  Frogs,  which  has  come 
down  in  ballad  and  story  from  the  early  summer  of  1758, 
when  on  a  dark  foggy  night,  just  after  midnight,  shouts  and 
cries  were  heard  by  the  people  of  Windham,  coming  from  a 
pond  a  mile  east  of  the  village.  The  whole  town  turned  out 
and  women  and  children  tried  to  compete  with  the  frogs 
in  their  outcries  and  screams,  for  some  thought  the  French 
and  Indians  were  about  to  make  an  attack,  while  others 
thought  the  noise  was  the  trump  of  doom  ushering  in  the 


Ho-w  tKe  People  Lived  in  tHe  Harly  Days     117 

close  of  history.  Toward  daybreak,  the  noise  died  away, 
and  in  the  morning  hundreds,  and  some  say  thousands,  of 
frogs  were  found  dead  in  the  pond.  There  must  have  been 
milHons  if  Samuel  Peters  of  Blue  Law  notoriety  was  accu- 
rate, for  he  says  they  "filled  a  road  40  rods  wide  and  4 
miles  in  length."  Some  have  thought  that  an  earthquake 
killed  the  frogs,  others  that  they  killed  one  another  in  a  frog 
Gettysburg,  others  that  they  died  of  over-excitement, 
since  it  is  supposed  that  the  frog  sings  only  when  it  is  happy. 
A  suggestion  concerning  one  side  of  the  life  of  the  people 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  until  1700,  there  was  a  winter 
wolf  hunt  in  Windham  County;  the  last  wolf  at  Woodstock 
was  shot  by  Pembascus  in  1732,  and  Ashford's  last  wolf  in 
1735,  Israel  Putnam  achieved  considerable  fame  by  his 
adventure  in  a  wolf's  den,  and  the  story  that  has  come  down 
to  us  is  as  follows:  There  was  near  his  farm  a  craggy, 
precipitous  hill  range  with  ragged  rocks  and  tangled  forest; 
for  years  the  neighboring  country  was  ravaged,  and  in- 
numerable sheepfolds  robbed,  by  a  wolf  from  that  wild 
fastness ;  children  feared  to  go  up  among  the  hills  for  berries. 
One  morning  seventy  sheep  and  goats  were  reported  as 
killed,  besides  many  lambs  and  kids  wounded  and  torn. 
Putnam  had  a  bloodhound  of  superior  strength,  and  with 
five  neighbors  the  resolute  farmer  agreed  to  watch  until 
the  wolf  was  killed.  The  final  hunt  was  in  the  winter  of 
1742-43,  when  a  light  snowfall  enabled  men  and  boys  to 
track  the  wolf  to  his  den.  A  day  was  spent  in  fruitless 
endeavor  to  persuade  the  beast  to  come  out.  Failing  in 
that,  Putnam  threw  off  coat  and  waistcoat,  and  with  a  rope 
around  his  body,  and  a  torch  in  his  hand,  he  was  lowered 
into  the  cave  until  he  saw  the  glaring  eyeballs;  the  second 
time  he  entered  the  cave  he  carried  a  gun  and  shot  the  wolf. 
The  wildness  of  the  life  appears  also  from  the  fact  that 
rattlesnakes  were  so  numerous  that  for  years  a  prize  of 
fourpence  a  head  was  offered  for  them.  The  first  fifteen 
days  of  May  were  set  apart  to  hunt  them  in  Windham 


Ii8  A  History  of  Connecticut 

County.  Bounties  were  offered  for  tails  of  rattlesnakes  in 
various  towns,  and  in  Norwich,  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  twopence  apiece  was  given  for  all  rattlesnakes 
killed  between  the  fifteenth  of  April  and  the  first  of  May, 
and  people  turned  out  in  large  numbers  to  hunt  them.  In 
1 72 1,  the  bounty  was  claimed  for  killing  one  hundred  and 
sixty  snakes  in  Norwich,  and  in  1730,  the  bounty  was 
increased  to  two  shillings  apiece  and  three  himdred  were 
killed  in  fifteen  days.  In  1735,  twenty  poimds  was  paid, 
with  the  bounty  at  fourpence.  In  1739,  the  bounty 
was  raised  again  to  ten  shillings,  and  among  those  who 
claimed  it  were  the  Widow  Woodworth,  who  was  paid  for 
twenty-three,  and  the  Widow  Smith  for  nine,  and  in  those 
years  he  who  claimed  the  bounty  was  obliged  to  take 
oath  that  he  went  out  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  de- 
stroy them.  There  was  enough  to  jar  the  nerves  of  the 
timid,  and  there  is  an  old  Norwich  tradition  that  an  ad- 
venturous lover,  going  home  late  one  night  from  a  visit  to 
his  lady-love  below  Little  Plain,  was  snapped  at  by  a  wolf 
and  hissed  at  by  a  rattlesnake. 

There  was  much  variety  in  the  early  life,  and  enough  to 
foster  brawn,  courage,  and  daring.  Struggles  with  Indians, 
wild  animals,  backward  seasons,  and  reluctant  soil  were 
reinforced  by  problems  of  government,  fears  of  the  devil, 
wrestlings  with  the  claims  of  a  severe  theology,  church 
quarrels,  and  benighted  superstitions.  The  sturdy  conscious- 
ness of  being  engaged  in  doing  the  will  of  God,  however 
stern  the  adversities,  trained  steady  nerves,  encouraged 
sound  sleep,  and  promoted  tireless  thrift. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  EARLY  RELIGIOUS  LIFE 

IT  is  a  short  step  from  a  study  of  the  way  the  people  lived 
in  the  early  years  to  a  glance  at  their  religious  experi- 
ence and  devotion,  so  vital  and  all-pervasive  was  their 
consciousness  of  the  presence  of  God,  and  so  sure  their 
faith  in  the  infinite  will,  which  they  believed  to  be  at  the 
heart  of  the  vast  system  over  them.  In  the  preamble  to  the 
Fundamental  Orders,  they  said  that  they  joined  in  one 
commonwealth  "to  maintain  and  preserve  the  libertty  and 
purity  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  which  we  now  pro- 
fess, as  also  the  discipline  of  the  churches,  which,  according 
to  the  truth  of  said  Gospel  is  now  practiced  amongst  us." 
Religion  was  to  them  a  practical  and  urgent  claim.  Re- 
volting against  the  formalism  and  corruptions  of  a  state 
church,  whose  hand  had  been  heavy  against  them,  they 
crossed  the  Atlantic  with  a  tireless  assurance  that  every- 
thing is  controlled  by  God's  sovereignty,  and  that  things 
are  right  or  wrong  because  God  says  so ;  that  nothing  escapes 
the  notice  of  God,  whose  clutch  holds  fast  the  freest  choice. 
They  also  held  strongly  to  the  idea  of  human  helplessness. 
No  higher  authority  for  this  can  be  quoted  than  Thomas 
Hooker,  who  once  likened  a  "poore  sinner"  to  the  "wheele 
of  a  clock  that  is  turned  aside,  and  by  some  contrary  poyse 
set  the  wrong  way,"  which  cannot  be  set  right  except 
by  "a  kind  of  holy  violence"  on  the  part  of  God.  He  says, 
"If  there  were  a  great  and  old  distemper  in  a  mans  stomacke, 

119 


I20  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

if  a  man  should  put  a  rich  doublet  upon  him  and  lay  him 
in  a  Featherbed,  and  use  all  other  meanes,  this  would  doe 
him  noe  good."  Conversion  as  a  violent  process  was  the 
normal  type  in  that  strenuous  age.  The  devil  was  as  real 
to  the  settlers  as  the  Lord,  and  almost  as  hard  to  down. 
"  It  is  a  tough  work,  a  wonderfully  hard  matter  to  bee  saved. 
It  is  not  shedding  a  teare  at  a  Sermon,  or  blubbering  now 
and  then  in  a  comer,  and  saying  over  thy  prayers,  and 
crying  God  mercy  for  thy  sins,  will  save  thee,"  says 
Thomas  Shepherd,  Hooker's  son-in-law.  Willingness  to  be 
damned  for  the  glory  of  God,  which  was  developed  more 
fully  in  the  next  century,  was  implied  in  the  faith  of 
the  early  Puritans.  Minute  and  rigid  self-inspection  and 
thorough  analysis  of  the  inner  life  were  urged  and  practiced. 
Merciless  exposure  of  the  naked  soul  was  demanded  that 
all  danger  of  self-deception  might  be  avoided;  and  candi- 
dates for  church  membership  were  required  to  run  the  gaimt- 
let  of  fifty  searching  questions  before  they  could  be  received. 
The  solemnity  and  strictness  which  gathered  about  the 
Sabbath,  the  sharp  watch  on  church-going,  and  the  mi- 
croscopic scrutiny  of  the  soul  by  the  Almighty  and  the 
individual,  would  have  resulted  in  a  piety  more  morbid 
than  sound,  more  debilitating  than  healthful,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  wholesomeness  and  common  sense  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  settlers  and  the  hard  work  encountered.  They 
believed  that  an  Indian  could  not  kill  a  settler  unless  God 
willed  it;  they  also  believed  that  God  willed  the  settler  to 
fire  first  if  he  could. 

There  is  a  story  that  has  floated  down  the  years  of  a 
settler  spending  a  long  evening  in  argument  with  a  neighbor 
over  the  divine  decrees,  and  when  he  took  his  gun  and 
stepped  out  into  the  darkness,  he  examined  the  priming, 
which  led  his  friend  to  say,  "What  is  the  use  of  that?  If  it 
is  foreordained  that  an  Indian  should  kill  you,  you  cannot 
help  yourself."  "True,"  said  the  other,  "but  if  it  is  fore- 
ordained that  I  should  kill  an  Indian,  I  must  be  ready." 


TKe  Early  IVeli^ioias  Life  12 1 

Wielding  ax  and  swinging  scythe  helped  to  modify  extreme 
views  of  divine  control,  while  diabolic  spite,  morbid  fancies, 
and  torpid  liver  were  corrected  in  some  degree  by  the  healthy 
outdoor  living.  Despite  the  wise  teachings  of  Hooker,  it  was 
in  the  year  1648,  six  months  after  the  powerful  preacher 
breathed  his  last,  that  a  woman  was  hanged  in  Hartford  for 
familiarity  with  the  devil.  Watchfulness  for  Satan's  ofhcious- 
ness  in  securing  the  death  of  a  cow,  a  tempest,  rheumatism, 
or  Indian  depravity  helped  correct  excessive  self-examination. 
Far  more  valuable  was  the  daily  reading  of  the  Bible  and 
prayer.  Recoiling  from  the  supremacy  of  the  Church,  they 
enthroned  the  Scriptures  as  the  supreme  authority. 

The  New  Haven  congregation  rose  while  the  minister 
solemnly  pronounced  the  text.  The  whole  Bible,  even  the 
Solomon  Love  Song,  carried  reverent  worshipers  straight 
to  the  heavenly  throne.  John  Pynchon,  the  founder  of 
Springfield,  wrote  a  book  in  1650,  on  the  Atonement,  pre- 
senting a  view  which  has  since  prevailed  largely  in  New 
England,  and  the  Massachusetts  legislature  ordered  it 
burnt,  because  it  was  supposed  to  be  unfair  to  the  Bible. 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  with  her  teaching  of  the  higher  life,  and  the 
Quakers  with  their  claim  to  the  immediate  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  were  dangerous,  because  they  seemed  to  disturb 
the  authority  of  the  Scriptures.  The  saintliness  of  the 
early  years  was  neither  morbidly  sentimental,  gloomy, 
excessively  mystical  or  hard,  considering  the  age  and  the 
heredity,  but  religion  was  at  the  center  of  everything. 
Family  worship  was  an  important  feature  of  a  Puritan  house- 
hold. At  the  beginning  of  every  meal  the  blessing  was 
asked,  and  at  the  close,  thanks  were  given,  every  person 
standing  by  his  chair  in  both  instances.  The  day  began 
and  ended  with  Scripture  and  prayer,  all  standing  during 
prayer. 

From  about  1660,  there  appeared  symptoms  of  a  decline 
from  the  austerity  of  the  first  years.  Hardship,  severe 
toil,  worry  over  food,  wolves  and  Indians,  poor  schools,  and 


122  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

the  natural  reaction,  which  our  changeful  human  nature 
practices,  brought  in  what  has  been  called  The  Puritan 
Decline.  This  is  clearly  indicated  in  a  book  published  in 
1 70 1,  A  Testimony  to  the  Order  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  Churches 
of  New  England,  by  John  Higginson,  who  taught  school  in 
Hartford  in  1638,  and  preached  in  Guilford  and  Salem. 
When  he  was  eighty-five  years  old,  he  joined  with  William 
Hubbard,  the  pastor  at  Ipswich,  in  a  statement  which 
contains  the  following  sentences: 

We  are  sensible  that  there  is  Risen  and  Rising  among  us,  a 
Number  who  not  only  forsake  the  Right  wayes  of  the  Lord,  where- 
in these  holy  churches  have  walked,  but  also  labor  to  carry  away 
as  many  others  with  them  as  they  can.  It  is  too  observable, 
That  the  Power  of  Godliness,  is  exceedingly  Decaying  and  Expir- 
ing in  the  Country. 

That  this  is  not  the  gloomy  brooding  of  a  depressed  old  age 
appears  from  the  fact  that  in  sermons,  legislative  enact- 
ments, records  of  the  courts  and  of  the  churches,  the  decline 
was  generally  recognized  as  widespread  and  serious.  In 
1679,  a  "Reforming  Synod"  was  called  by  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts,  and  it  pointed  out  a  "great  and 
visible  decay  of  the  power  of  Godliness"  in  the  churches. 
It  specified  as  evils  of  the  times,  neglect  of  divine  worship, 
disregard  of  the  church  sacraments,  pride,  profanity.  Sab- 
bath-breaking, family  lawlessness  and  irreligion,  intemper- 
ance, licentiousness,  covetousness,  and  untruthfulness. 

In  the  words  of  Thomas  Prince:  "A  little  after  1660, 
there  began  to  appear  Decay,  and  this  increased  to  1670, 
when  it  grew  very  visible  and  threatening  and  was  generally 
complained  of  and  bewailed  bitterly  by  the  pious  among 
them:  and  yet  more  to  1680,  when  but  few  of  the  first  genera- 
tion remained."  The  colonists  had  passed  into  a  life  of 
strain;  religious  ties  between  them  and  the  strong  religious 
life  of  England  were  severed  by  the  Restoration;  they  were 
no  longer  the  vanguard  of  a  great  religious  movement. 


^/  .XKe  Early  Religious  Life  123 

Their  religious  life  ceased  to  interest  any  considerable 
section  of  England;  left  to  themselves  in  the  wilderness, 
their  zeal  flagged  and  their  moral  life  fell  away.  There 
had  been  a  falling  off  in  the  ability  and  scholarship  of  the 
pulpit  and  the  intelHgence  of  laymen;  land-grabbing  had 
crowded  out  self-examination  in  that  vigorous  town-planting 
period,  over  eighty  Connecticut  towns  being  incorporated 
between  1660,  and  1735.  To  get  more  land  was  a  fever 
which  dulled  the  anxiety  to  checkmate  the  devil  and  get  to 
heaven.  Political  worry,  military  activity,  and  heavy  taxa- 
tion made  the  strain  so  stem  and  constant  as  to  interrupt 
self-investigation  and  obscure  the  great  White  Throne. 
King  Philip's  war  carried  fire  and  slaughter  to  many  towns. 
It  was  hard  to  grow  in  grace  when  the  church  was  trans- 
formed into  a  fortress.  Action  under  James  II.  to  take 
away  the  charter,  the  trying  sway  of  Andros,  the  French 
War,  expedition  to  Albany,  another  to  Canada,  witchcraft 
craze.  Queen  Anne's  War,  controversies  over  colonial 
boundaries,  commercial  and  currency  problems  and  em- 
barrassments, smallpox  and  diphtheria  epidemics,  together 
with  a  thousand  questions  arising  with  the  settling  of  new 
towns,  gave  the  people  enough  to  think  about  without 
spending  too  much  time  in  morbid  duels  with  their  inner 
corruptions. 

There  was  also  much  contention  in  the  churches,  which 
went  far  to  paralyze  the  religious  life.  Church  quarrels 
were  fruitful  sources  of  migrations  to  form  new  towns ;  there 
were  disagreements  in  Wethersfield  which  led  to  the  settling 
of  Stamford  in  1641,  and  Hadley  in  1659.  There  was  a 
protracted  quarrel  in  the  Hartford  church  from  1653,  to 
1659.  The  union  of  church  and  state  was  the  occasion  of 
numberless  difficulties,  which  hindered  the  religious  life. 
The  action  of  the  Half-way  Covenant,  which  will  be  de- 
scribed later,  seriously  blighted  the  spirituality  of  the  times. 
Religious  controversies,  which  were  fought  out  in  the  legis- 
lature, the  coiu-thouse,  and   the   town    meeting,  with  the 


124  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

jail  standing  near  by  as  a  threat,  furnished  poor  soil  for  a 
vital  spiritual  life.  The  domineering  spirit  of  the  churches, 
which  brooked  no  disagreement  with  their  vicious  con- 
ception of  the  nature  and  province  of  the  church,  helped  on 
the  decline.  The  uncharitable  severity  with  which  con- 
scientious dissent  on  matters  of  religion  was  treated  chilled 
the  tender  plant  of  piety,  and  converted  churches,  dis- 
tinguished at  the  start  for  brotherly  love,  into  refrigerators 
which  the  people  must  attend,  or  be  fined.  The  people 
in  democratic  Connecticut  seem  to  have  had  an  average 
amount  of  human  nature,  and  it  was  not  conducive  to 
piety  that,  despite  the  reaction  against  class  distinctions 
in  England  and  Massachusetts,  they  should  have  preserved 
and  established  the  caste  system  in  seating  the  meeting- 
house. An  illustration  of  this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  in  1698, 
the  townsmen  and  Goodman  Elderkin,  the  carpenter,  were 
engaged  in  Norwich  to  arrange  the  pews  into  eight  classes, 
according  to  their  dignity,  and  then  five  of  the  most  respected 
men  were  directed  to  seat  the  people  with  due  regard  to  rank  : 
"the  square  pue  to  be  considered  first  in  dignity ;  the  new  seats 
and  the  fore  seats  in  the  broad  ally  next,  and  alike  in  dignity." 
In  view  of  all  this  we  do  not  wonder  that  Higginson, 
Hubbard,  and  others  joined  in  the  lament.  The  Rev. 
Samuel  Mather  of  Windsor,  writing  in  1706,  says  in  a  pastoral 
letter  to  his  people: 

It  is  a  time  of  much  Degeneracy  ...  In  great  measure  we  in  this 
wilderness  have  lost  our  first  love.  .  .  .  We  do  not  walk  with  God 
as  our  Fathers  did,  and  hence  we  are  continually  from  year  to 
year  under  his  Rebukes  one  way  or  another;  and  yet  alas,  we 
turn  not  unto  him  that  smites  us:  these  considerations  call  for  the 
utmost  of  our  endeavors,  for  the  reformation  of  what  is  amiss 
amongst  us:  and  for  the  upholding  and  strengthening  of  what  yet 
remains,  and  is  perhaps  ready  to  dy. 

In  East  Windsor,  Rev,  Timothy  Edwards — father  of  the 
famous  Jonathan — preached  a  sermon  in  May,  17 12,  on  a 


TKe  Early  IVeligiovis  Life  125 

topic  upon  which  the  ministers  of  Farmington,  Hartford, 
and  Windsor  united,  namely:  "Irreverence  in  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  and  profanation  of  his  Glorious  and  fearful 
Name  by  Causeless  Imprecations  and  Rash  Swearing." 
In  1 7 14,  Samuel  Whitman  of  Farmington  preached  the 
election  sermon  in  Hartford  before  the  General  Court, 
In  it  he  said: 

Is  not  religion  declining?  Indeed  'tis  too  evident  to  be  denied, 
that  Religion  is  on  the  Wane  among  us,  'Tis  Languishing  in  all 
Parts  of  the  Land.  .  .  .  Time  was  when  the  Ordinances  of  God 
were  highly-prized ;  Our  Fathers  had  a  high  Esteem  of  them,  and 
laid  great  Weight  on  them.  .  .  .  But  now,  the  Love  of  many 
is  grown  cold.  .  .  .  We  are  risen  up  a  Generation  that  have  in  a 
great  Measure  forgot  the  Errand  of  our  Fathers. 

Similar  in  spirit  and  substance  was  the  election  sermon  of 
Stephen  Hosmer  of  East  Haddam  in  1720,  the  title  of  which 
was:  "A  People's  Living  in  Appearance  and  Dying  in 
ReaHty."  In  1730,  William  Russell  of  Middletown  spoke 
in  the  same  vein.  He  challenged  his  hearers  to  consider  the 
undoubted  fact  of  "Vanity,  Worldliness,  Pride,  great  Un- 
thoughtfulness  of  God."     He  asks: 

And  is  there  not  abundance  of  Unrighteousness  &  Unmerciful- 
ness  among  us?  Injustice  in  prices,  delays  and  dishonesty  in 
Payments,  Deceit,  Falseness  and  Unfaithfulness  in  Bargains, 
Contracts  and  Betrustments,  griping  Usury,  Evading  and 
Baffling  the  Laws  made  for  the  Security  of  men  from  that  Op- 
pression? a  multitude  of  Law  Suits,  Men  ready  to  take  one  an- 
other by  the  Throat? 

Similar  reports  come  from  the  civil  rulers,  the  courts, 
the  jail  records,  the  church  records;  all  bear  witness  to  an 
unspeakable  laxity  of  morals.  The  sins  were  those  of  in- 
temperance, lying,  slander,  and  licentiousness.  Of  the  last 
mentioned  Jonathan  Edwards,  preaching  to  his  well-to-do 
people  in  Northampton,  speaks  of  certain  customs  that  were 


126  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

common  among  the  young  people,  which  had  been  one  main 
thing  that  had  led  to  the  growth  of  uncleanness  in  the  land. 
With  the  increase  of  drunkenness,  profanity,  and  licentious- 
ness, it  is  clear  that  a  change  had  come  since  1643,  when  the 
author  of  New  England  First  Fruits  wrote:  "One  may 
live  there  from  year  to  year,  and  not  see  a  drunkard,  hear 
an  oath,  or  see  a  beggar";  and  Hugh  Peters,  in  a  sermon 
before  Parliament,  said  in  1646:  "I  have  lived  seven  years 
in  a  country  where  I  never  saw  a  beggar,  nor  heard  an  oath, 
or  looked  upon  a  dninkard."  There  was  also  a  falling  away 
from  the  early  intensity  of  religious  experience  as  appears 
in  the  statements  made  by  candidates  for  church  member- 
ship. A  less  strenuous  type  was  discovered  and  expected. 
Formality  was  on  the  increase  as  appears  from  the  fact  that 
baptism  was  made  prominent  as  a  bond  to  hold  people  to 
the  church  when  there  was  a  lack  of  spiritual  life. 

There  was  no  falling  off  in  the  forms  of  religion ;  tithing- 
men  were  busy,  and  constables  were  earning  their  fees, 
arresting  the  wayward  Sabbath-breakers.  The  people 
in  every  town  gathered  at  the  meeting-house  for  long  ser- 
mons, and,  before  bells  were  obtained,  the  drum  called  all 
who  could  get  out  of  bed  to  the  solemn  meetings.  The 
first  was  beaten  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  tower  of  the  meeting- 
house and  through  the  streets  of  the  town.  When  the 
second  drum  beat  at  ten,  families  went  forth  from  their 
houses  and  walked,  children  following  parents  to  the  door, 
though  not  allowed  to  sit  with  them;  the  ministers  wearing 
gowns  and  bands,  but  not  the  surplice.  There  were  also 
meetings  during  the  week.  In  New  Haven  the  church 
had  a  meeting  by  itself  on  Tuesday,  and  on  Thursday  a 
lecture  open  to  all,  though  perhaps  not  every  week. 

It  may  relieve  this  rather  gloomy  story  to  look  at  a  picture 
of  a  Sunday  meeting  in  one  of  the  towns  on  the  Connecticut 
in  1650.  It  was  a  small,  square  structure,  clapboarded  and 
wainscoted.  The  people  came  together  to  the  beat  of  the 
drum,  as  it  was  to  be  seven  years  before  a  bell  was  to  hang 


TKe  Early  IVeligiovis  Life  127 

in  the  belfry.  See  the  people  coming,  mostly  on  foot,  though 
some  from  the  more  distant  farms  on  horseback,  the  wife 
on  the  pillion,  behind  her  husband,  with  the  youngest  child 
in  her  arms,  while  the  rest  followed  on  foot,  young  men  and 
maidens  according  to  a  law  discovered  by  Darwin  two 
centuries  later.  At  the  west  end  of  the  meeting-house  was 
the  lofty  pulpit,  in  front  of  which  was  the  seat  where  the 
two  solemn-faced  deacons  sat.  The  people  were  seated 
with  respect  of  age,  office,  and  estate.  The  guard  of  eight 
men  with  muskets  at  shoulder  marched  in,  and  stacking 
their  arms  near  by,  took  their  seats  on  either  side,  and  the 
minister  walked  up  the  aisle  with  stately  tread.  The  meet- 
ing began  with  a  prayer  lasting  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  then  a 
chapter  was  read  and  explained,  a  psalm  announced,  and 
one  of  the  deacons  rose  and  read : 

That  man  is  blest  that  hath  not  blent, 

Getting  as  near  D  as  he  could,  he  launched  on  the  ocean  of 
song,  and  the  people  joined.  Then  the  deacon  read  the 
second  line : 

To  wicked  reade  his  eare, 

By  this  time,  the  people  took  hold  with  a  will,  and  when  the 
third  line  was  given,  a  mighty  shout  rang  through  the  forest: 

Nor  led  his  life  as  sinners  do, 

They  concluded  with : 

And  eke  the  way  of  wicked  men 
Shall  quite  be  overthrown. 

The  people  sat  while  the  minister  turned  the  hour- 
glass and  announced  the  text.  After  the  sermon  there  was 
a  prayer  and  a  blessing,  and  the  people  went  home  to  a  cold 
dinner  or  to  the  "Sabba  day  house,"  or  to  a  neighbor's 
to  replenish  foot- stoves  and  eat  luncheon.     The  afternoon 


128  A.  History  of  Connectic\it 

meeting  was  like  that  in  the  morning,  except  that  after  the 
concluding  prayer  all  children  of  recent  birth  were  presented 
for  baptism,  though  zero  weather  froze  the  parson's  breath. 
Then  one  of  the  deacons  rose  and  said,  "Brethren  of  the 
congregation,  now  there  is  time  left  for  contributions, 
wherefore  as  God  hath  prospered  so  freely  offer."  The 
people  went  forward  with  their  gifts,  then  all  rose,  and 
another  psalm  was  lined  off,  and  a  blessing  concluded  the 
meeting. 

In  passing  now  to  consider  the  government  of  the 
churches,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  settlers  of  Con- 
necticut lived  in  an  age  in  which  a  sturdy  and  well-balanced 
organization  was  considered  indispensable  to  the  life  of 
religion,  especially  in  a  new  country,  to  which  all  kinds  of 
people  might  come,  and  those  who  might  infect  the  new 
society  with  dangerous  views.  Although  the  settlers  had 
suffered  much  in  England  because  of  the  union  of  church 
and  state,  it  was  too  early  for  even  as  able  and  broad- 
minded  men  as  the  pioneers  on  the  Connecticut  to  rise  to 
the  level  of  what  is  now  a  commonplace  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  The  emigrants  to  the  River,  and  still  more  dis- 
tinctly the  colonists  on  the  Sound,  followed  the  traditions 
and  practices  of  the  parish  system  of  England,  and  considered 
town  and  church  as  practically  one,  settling  the  affairs  of 
both  at  the  same  meeting,  which  was  held  usually  in  the 
meeting-house,  and  one  meets  on  the  records  in  one  paragraph 
an  appropriation  to  pay  the  minister,  and  in  the  next  a 
reference  to  the  appointment  of  pound-keeper. 

The  first  code,  that  of  1650,  required  that  all  persons 
should  be  taxed  for  both  church  and  state,  and  all  rates — 
for  church,  school,  constable,  and  fence- viewer — were  col- 
lected by  law.  All  persons  were  required  to  attend  Sunday 
worship  under  penalty  of  three  shillings,  and  to  go  to  church 
on  days  of  public  fasting  and  thanksgiving  appointed  by  the 
governor,  under  penalty  of  five  shillings  for  every  instance 
of  neglect.     It  was  enacted*     "That  no  persons  within  the 


TKe  Early  R.eli^io\js  Life  129 

colony,  shall  in  any  wise  embody  themselves  into  church 
estate,  without  consent  of  the  General  Court,  and  approba- 
tion of  neighboring  elders."  The  laws  also  ordered  that  no 
ministry  or  church  service  should  be  entertained  or  attended 
by  the  inhabitants  of  any  plantation  distinct  and  separate 
from  that  which  was  publicly  observed  by  the  approved 
minister  of  the  place,  imder  penalty  of  five  pounds  for  every 
violation,  and  that  the  civil  authority ''  haue  power  and  liberty 
to  see  the  peace,  ordinances  and  rules  of  Christ,  observed 
in  every  church,  according  to  his  word ;  and  also  to  deal  with 
every  church  member  in  a  way  of  civil  justice,  notwith- 
standing any  church  relation,  office  or  interest."  So  long 
as  the  establishment  lasted,  down  to  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  in  18 18,  the  connection  with  the  civil  power 
continued.  If  a  church  refused  to  pay  its  minister,  the 
legislature  settled  the  proper  amount  for  his  maintenance, 
and  enforced  the  payment.  If  a  church  remained  without 
a  minister  for  a  year,  the  legislature  could  name  an  amount 
for  ministerial  purposes,  and  compel  the  town  to  raise  it, 
according  to  the  time-honored  view  of  the  union  of  chtu-ch 
and  state :  the  state  the  caretaker  of  the  church ;  the  church 
taking  charge  of  public  morals,  and  furnishing  ministers  to 
instruct  magistrates,  A  man  who  found  himself  within  the 
territory  of  a  parish  was  not  allowed  to  vote  on  purely  church 
matters,  unless  he  was  a  church  member,  but  he  was  com- 
pelled to  pay  toward  the  support  of  a  minister  in  whose  call 
he  had  no  voice,  and  to  support  a  church  for  which  perhaps 
he  had  no  sympathy.  In  Connecticut,  a  man  did  not  lose  his 
franchise  in  civil  affairs,  though  under  censure  of  the  chtirch, 
but  in  New  Haven,  as  in  Massachusetts,  loss  of  church 
membership  cost  a  man  his  vote  in  town  affairs. 

The  Cambridge  Platform,  adopted  by  a  council  in  1648, 
governed  for  sixty  years.  The  need  of  this  was  due  to  the 
feeling  that  there  ought  to  be  uniformity  of  religious  faith 
and  practice.  It  was  seen  that  some  provision  ought  to  be 
made  for  outsiders  coming  into  the  colonies;  the  exacting 


130  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

oversight  of  the  members  in  the  local  church  had  to  give 
way  to  a  system  capable  of  meeting  larger  needs.  When  the 
Cambridge  Synod  adjourned,  it  was  known  that  the  churches 
of  New  England  accepted  the  Westminster  Confession  "for 
substance  thereof"  in  matters  of  faith;  but  in  government 
there  were  differing  views. 

The  Cambridge  Platform,  a  law  to  the  churches  in  the 
sense  that  Kent's  Commentaries  are  law  in  courts  of  justice, 
taught  that  the  Congregational  Church  was  not  national, 
but  a  brotherhood  of  believers,  with  pastors,  teachers,  and 
ruling  elders,  who  have  a  certain  "power  of  office,"  while 
the  people  who  elected  them  had  "power  of  privilege." 
After  election,  the  officers  governed  as  they  saw  fit.  But 
in  case  of  excommunication,  the  more  liberal  policy  of 
Plymouth  and  Connecticut  prevailed,  and  civil  rights  were 
not  forfeited.  Pastors  and  teachers  were  such  only  by 
election,  and  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  elders  of  the 
church  electing  them,  though  elders  of  other  churches  could 
lay  on  hands  "when  there  were  no  elders,  and  the  church  so 
desired."  Maintenance  of  the  churches  was  to  be  collected 
from  all  the  citizens.  Communion  between  the  churches 
was  defined  to  be  for  mutual  welfare,  sisterly  advice,  com- 
mendation of  members,  succor  of  the  needy,  and  the  propa- 
gation of  Christianity.  Synods  or  councils,  consisting  of 
ministerial  and  lay  delegates,  were  considered  "necessary 
to  the  well-being  of  the  churches  for  the  establishment  of 
truth  and  peace."  These  might  be  called  by  the  churches, 
but,  unlike  the  Presbyterian  synods,  they  were  disbanded 
when  their  work  was  done;  moreover  they  were  not  to 
"exercise  church  censure  in  the  way  of  discipline  nor  in  any 
other  act  of  authority."  Civil  magistrates  should  not 
meddle  with  the  work  of  the  churches,  but  see  that  godli- 
ness was  upheld,  by  putting  down  blasphemy,  idolatry,  and 
heresy;  by  punishing  all  profaners  of  the  Sabbath,  con- 
temners of  the  ministry,  all  disturbers  of  public  worship, 
and  to  proceed  against  "schismatic  or  obstinately  corrupt 


XHe  Early  Religious  Life  131 

churches."  This  platform,  known  in  later  years  as  the  Book 
of  Discipline  of  the  Congregational  Church,  defined  the 
principles  of  this  body.  In  England  the  Independent 
churches  were  strictly  what  their  name  implies,  but  the 
Cambridge  Platform  tended  to  introduce  order  and  unity 
in  the  action  and  influence  of  the  churches.  Cotton, 
Norton,  and  Hooker  saw  the  importance  of  giving  perma- 
nence to  a  system  of  mutual  supervision.  Provision  was 
made  for  an  occasional  council  or  ''Synod,"  to  be  composed 
of  ministers  and  laymen  from  the  neighboring  churches, 
with  no  power  to  compel  any  church  to  take  any  particular 
action,  but  only  to  advise  and  admonish.  The  severest 
action  the  Synod  could  take  was  to  withdraw  fellowship 
from  the  offending  church. 

Thus  the  Congregational  became  the  established  form  of 
church  order.  The  members  of  the  Cambridge  Synod  used 
the  term  in  the  preface  to  their  platform.  There  was  a 
slight  leaning  toward  Presbyterianism  in  the  provision 
which  allowed  the  ordination  of  the  officers  of  a  church  by 
officers  of  other  churches,  "in  case  where  there  were  no 
elders  and  the  church  so  desired."  As  a  last  resort  the 
church  looked  to  the  civil  power  for  the  guarding  of  peace 
and  purity.  "If  any  church  shall  grow  schismatical, 
rending  itself  from  the  commimion  of  other  churches,  or 
shall  walk  incorrigibly  or  obstinately  in  any  corrupt  way  of 
their  own,  contrary  to  the  rule  of  the  word,  in  such  case  the 
magistrate  is  to  put  forth  his  coercive  power  as  the  matter 
shall  require."  Such  interference  came  into  play  in  the 
famous  Hartford  quarrel,  but  without  much  success. 

A  well-furnished  church  had  a  pastor  and  a  teacher,  both 
of  whom  preached  and  administered  the  ordinances,  while 
the  distinctive  function  of  the  former  was  to  preach,  and 
that  of  the  latter  was  to  enforce  the  truth  and  interpret 
Scripture.  Each  church  had  also  one  or  more  ruHng  elders, 
who  shared  with  the  pastor  and  teacher  the  task  of  disci- 
pline; the  deacons  had  charge  of  the  business  affairs,  and 


132  -A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

provided  for  the  poor.  The  office  of  pastor  was  not  long 
discriminated  from  that  of  teacher,  and  the  practice  of 
maintaining  the  two  officers  soon  passed.  At  the  time  of  the 
confederation  of  the  New  England  colonies,  there  were 
nearly  eighty  ruling  elders.  The  occasion  of  the  Hartford 
quarrel,  which  began  soon  after  the  death  of  Hooker,  was 
this:  Goodwin,  the  ruling  elder,  wanted  Michael  Wiggles- 
worth  as  Hooker's  successor,  and  Stone,  the  surviving 
minister,  refused  to  let  the  proposition  be  put  to  vote.  The 
Goodwin  party  withdrew  from  the  church,  and  the  Stone 
party  tried  to  discipline  the  former;  a  council  of  churches 
failed  to  reconcile  the  parties;  the  General  Court  intervened, 
and  the  angry  elements  became  furious.  It  was  not  until 
1659,  when  sixty  members  removed  to  Hadley,  that  peace 
was  restored.  In  1663,  a  keener  struggle  took  place,  when 
the  two  tactless  pastors.  Stone  and  Whiting,  led  the  two 
wings  of  the  church  in  a  four  years'  fight  over  the  question 
of  the  requirements  for  membership  in  the  church.  In 
May,  1669,  the  General  Court  passed  a  law  permitting  the 
formation  of  another  church  in  the  town.  In  October, 
Whiting  applied  for  permission  to  form  the  Second  Church 
of  Hartford;  and  when  it  was  formed,  the  new  church 
adopted  the  practice  of  the  Half-way  Covenant,  against 
which  he  and  his  party  had  been  contending  for  years. 

What  was  the  Half-way  Covenant?  The  theory  of  the 
New  England  churches  was  that  their  membership  should  be 
restricted  to  those  who  could  give  proof  of  their  conversion ; 
and  that  only  such  persons  and  their  children  might  rightly 
be  baptized.  There  were  some  in  the  colony  who  wished  to 
follow  the  "parish- way"  of  the  Church  of  England;  these 
were  disposed  to  receive  into  the  church  all  persons  of  good 
moral  character,  and  baptize  their  children.  Many  of  the 
children  .of  the  second  generation  of  the  settlers  could  not 
give  a  satisfactory  account  of  their  religious  experience,  and 
consequently  their  children  could  not  be  presented  for 
baptism.     Hence  many  people  of  exemplary  lives  had  no 


THe  Early  Religious  Life  133 

standing  in  the  churches,  and  meager  political  standing. 
In  February,  1657,  a  ministerial  council  was  called  in  Boston 
to  consider  the  question  which  was  vexing  the  churches,  to 
see  if  it  might  not  be  wise  to  widen  the  door  into  the  church* 
There  was  strong  opposition  to  that  council,  especially  at 
New  Haven,  but  it  met,  and  sustained  the  new  view.  It 
declared  that  baptized  infants  could,  on  arriving  at  years 
of  discretion,  "own  the  covenant"  and  become  formal 
church  members;  that  the  church  was  bound  to  accept 
them  (if  they  were  not  of  scandalous  life  and  understood  the 
grounds  of  religion),  and  was  bound  to  baptize  their  children, 
thus  continuing  the  chain  of  claims  to  church-membership 
to  all  generations.  This  made  membership  in  the  church 
an  affair  of  morals  and  formality,  and  gave  great  offense 
at  New  Haven  and  among  many  of  the  Connecticut  people, 
for  it  introduced  a  dual  membership,  worked  against  the 
old  Puritan  theory  of  a  covenant  church,  and  brought  in  a 
national  church  of  mixed  membership.  In  1662,  a  Synod 
met  in  Boston,  in  which  neither  Connecticut  nor  New  Haven 
was  represented,  which  reaffirmed  the  crude  Half-way 
Covenant,  In  1664,  the  General  Court  formally  adopted 
the  decision  of  the  council,  and  commended  it  to  the  churches 
under  its  jurisdiction,  which  then  included  New  Haven. 
It  was  a  political  idea,  and  not  all  of  the  churches  adopted 
it.  This  made  the  break  in  the  Hartford  church,  for 
when  Haynes  in  1666,  undertook  to  put  the  Half-way 
Covenant  in  practice,  Whiting,  the  senior  colleague,  for- 
bade him  to  proceed  with  the  service.  Later,  the  church 
split  into  two  churches  with  the  Half-way  Covenant  running 
merrily  in  both.  In  1668,  the  legislature,  unable  to  per- 
suade Massachusetts  to  call  a  Synod,  passed  its  first  Toleration 
Act,  allowing  "until  a  better  light  in  an  orderly  way  doth 
appeare,"  that  "sundry  persons  of  worth  for  prudence  and 
piety  amongst  us  .  .  .  may  haue  allowance  of  their  per- 
swasion  and  profession  in  church  wayes."  Yet  there  was 
no  release  from  support  of  an  unacceptable  ministry  or  from 


134  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

fines  for  neglect  of  church-going.  Tolerance  extended  only 
to  differences  of  opinion  within  the  fold. 

The  support  of  religion  was  voluntary  in  Connecticut 
until  1640,  and  both  New  Haven  and  Connecticut  adopted 
the  suggestion  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  united  colonies 
on  September  5,  1644,  "that  each  man  should  be  required 
to  set  down  what  he  would  voluntarily  give  for  the  support 
of  the  Gospel,  and  that  any  man  who  refused  should  be 
rated  according  to  his  possessions,  and  was  compelled  to  pay" 
the  sum  levied.  We  have  spoken  of  the  action  of  the  legisla- 
ture in  connection  with  the  Hartford  quarrels;  it  was  the 
practice  of  the  General  Court  from  the  beginning  to  consider 
itself  the  arbiter  of  all  matters  relating  to  the  churches, 
compelling  them  to  own  its  authority.  As  early  as  1643, 
it  demanded  from  the  Wethersfield  church  a  list  of  the 
grievances  that  disturbed  it.  It  is  not  strange  that  people, 
brought  up  under  the  ecclesiastical  system  of  England, 
should  have  taken  the  course  they  did,  since  it  was  an  abid- 
ing conviction  that  the  state  ought  to  support  one  form  of 
religion  and  only  one. 

The  office  of  ruling  elder  was  soon  given  up,  partly 
because  of  a  lack  of  suitable  men  to  fill  the  position,  and 
partly  because  of  the  arrogance  of  domineering  elders.  The 
office  of  teacher  was  also  abolished,  and  the  minister  held 
all  the  power  formerly  vested  in  pastor,  teacher,  and  elder, 
and,  retaining  the  veto  power,  sometimes  became  autocratic 
when  he  was  so  disposed  and  dared.  The  notion  that 
ministers  rode  rough-shod  over  the  minds  of  their  people, 
holding  the  reins  with  iron  hand,  betrays  imperfect  knowl- 
edge. The  people  had  minds  of  their  own  as  well  as  the 
ministers,  but  for  many  years  there  were  outlets  in  new 
towns  for  the  disaffected,  and  occasionally  a  minister  colon- 
ized with  a  part  of  the  congregation. 

The  Half-way  Covenant,  notwithstanding  vigorous  op- 
position, gradually  became  the  general  practice.  It  was 
not   considered   as   exactly   Congregational;   the   religious 


THe  Early  IVeligiovis  Life  135 

character  of  Connecticut  was  thus  officially  represented  in 
1676,  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations:  "Our  people 
are  some  of  them  strict  Congregational  men,  others  more 
large  Congregational  men,  and  some  moderate  Presbyteri- 
ans." As  time  passed  and  the  new  leaven  spread,  strict 
Congregationalists  decreased.  "A  church  without  a  bishop, 
and  a  state  without  a  king,"  was  still  the  theory;  but  the 
General  Court  saw  that  something  better  than  its  meddling 
was  needed  to  keep  the  churches  in  peace,  and  in  1708,  it 
issued  an  edict  to  each  of  the  forty-one  churches  to  send 
pastor  and  delegate  to  a  synod  to  convene  at  Saybrook,  to 
draw  up  a  church  system  for  the  commonwealth;  sixteen 
men,  twelve  of  them  ministers,  obeyed  the  summons.  The 
Synod  met  in  September,  adopted  the  Savoy  Confession, 
and  formed  the  Saybrook  Platform  as  the  church  system, 
commending  an  explicit  covenant  of  communion  between 
the  churches,  called  Consociation — a  permanent  organiza- 
tion— consisting  of  minister  and  a  delegate  from  the  churches 
"planted  in  a  convenient  vicinity."  It  proposed  that  each 
church  should  enter  into  the  confederation,  consenting  to 
certain  principles  and  rules  of  intercourse ;  that  a  church  or  a 
person  should  have  the  right  to  bring  disputes  before  the 
consociation;  that  a  pastor  or  church  refusing  to  be  bound 
by  the  decision  of  the  consociation  should  be  put  out  of  the 
communion;  and  that  there  should  be  an  annual  meeting 
of  delegates  from  all  the  consociations.  The  "Heads  of 
Agreement"  assented  to  by  the  Saybrook  Synod  with  its 
membership  of  twelve  ministers  and  four  laymen  was  an 
English  platform,  and  formed  a  compromise  with  the 
Presbyterian  theory.  The  legislature  at  once  ratified  the 
Saybrook  Platform,  coolly  affirming  that  it  had  been  pre- 
sented as  "unanimously  agreed  and  consented  to  by  the 
elders  and  churches, "  as  if  the  action  of  that  little  conclave 
of  less  than  a  third  of  the  ministers  and  four  laymen  could 
be  regarded  as  "the  elders  and  churches."  Churches 
united  by  this  platform  were  "owned  and   acknowledged 


136  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

established  by  law."  All  were  taxed  for  the  support  of  the 
established,  that  is  the  Congregational,  churches.  It  was  a 
modified  Presbyterianism,  without  coercive  power,  except 
as  the  provision  for  the  ministers'  support,  and  the  with- 
drawal of  it  from  refractory  members,  formed  a  stem 
compulsion.  After  a  time  the  terms  Congregational  and  Pres- 
byterian were  interchangeable.  The  General  Association  of 
1805,  affirmed  that  "The  Saybrook  Platform  is  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Connecticut."  In 
accordance  with  the  form  of  government  outlined  in  the 
platform,  the  churches  were  formed  into  five  consociations; 
one  each  in  New  Haven,  New  London,  and  Fairfield  coimties, 
and  two  in  Hartford  County,  and  the  ministers  were  formed 
into  five  associations,  to  provide  ministerial  standing  and 
oversight  for  one  another.  This  system  was  definitely 
imposed  upon  the  churches  by  excluding  from  the  benefits 
of  the  previous  establishment  every  church  that  should 
decline  conformity.  All  churches  of  the  earlier,  Congrega- 
tional way  were  disowned. 

How  was  the  new  religious  constitution  received?  Trum- 
bull says  that  it  "met  with  a  general  reception,  though  some 
of  the  churches  were  extremely  opposed  to  it."  There  were 
decided  differences  of  opinion  concerning  its  application. 
The  local  independence  of  the  churches  was  sacrificed,  but 
it  tended  to  bring  the  churches  into  a  closer  union  with  one 
another,  and  to  prepare  for  the  perils  and  struggles,  the 
trials  and  conquests  that  were  before  the  people.  While 
the  system  after  a  time  developed  into  a  barren  and  rigid 
formalism  in  many  quarters,  with  evil  results  upon  morals; 
while  it  exalted  the  eldership  and  pastoral  power;  while  it 
replaced  the  sympathetic  help  and  friendliness  of  neighbor- 
ing churches  with  organized  associations  and  the  authority 
of  councils,  it  was  valuable  in  many  ways  in  the  new  towns. 
It  made  strenuous  efforts  to  stay  the  tendency  toward 
barbarism  during  Indian,  French,  and  Spanish  wars.  It 
encouraged  catechising  of  the  children,  and  reformation  of 


THe  Early  Religious  Life  137 

morals.  It  lessened  the  excesses  of  the  Great  Awakening, 
and  anodyned  some  of  the  bitter  controversies  and  move- 
ments toward  Deism  and  infidelity.  There  were  church 
quarrels  enough  under  the  new  system,  some  of  them  lasting 
for  ten  or  fifteen  years,  but  this  "permanent  establishment, " 
in  which  church  and  state  were  bound  together  more  securely 
than  before,  in  which  the  legislature  turned  over  to  the 
"government  within  a  government "  the  whole  control  of  the 
religious  life  of  the  colony,  and  endowed  it  with  church 
courts,  may  have  been  the  best  possible  device  to  tide  the 
churches  over  trying  times. 

In  a  day  and  generation  when  men  were  convinced  that 
religious  uniformity  was  necessary  to  civil  order,  it  is  signifi- 
cant that  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  act  of  establishing 
the  Say  brook  Platform,  should  have  added  a  proviso — 
"that  nothing  herein  shall  be  intended  or  construed  to  hinder 
or  prevent  any  Society  or  Church  that  is  or  shall  be  allowed 
by  the  laws  of  this  government,  who  soberly  differ  or  dis- 
sent from  the  United  Churches  hereby  established  from 
exercising  worship  and  discipline  in  their  own  way,  ac- 
cording to  their  conscience."  This  liberal  clause  was  a 
shrewd  endeavor  to  win  to  the  platform  the  minority 
who  clung  to  the  earlier  faith,  and  it  also  covered  dissenters, 
though  no  rival  church  was  desired  in  Connecticut.  The 
Toleration  Act  had  largely  in  view  also  the  favor  of  the  king 
who  might  disturb  the  charter  if  the  government  here  were 
unfair  toward  any  religious  sects.  Four  classes,  Quak- 
ers, Episcopalians,  Baptists  and  Rogerines,  were  much  in 
evidence.  The  treatment  of  the  Quakers  is  often  spoken 
of  as  a  brilliant  example  of  intolerance.  The  colonists 
made  it  uncomfortable  for  the  members  of  this  aggressive 
sect,  not  by  hanging,  as  in  Massachusetts,  but  by  branding 
whipping  and  fining ;  and  very  likely  they  would  have  hanged 
them  if  necessary  to  be  rid  of  them,  for  it  was  too  early  to 
understand  religious  freedom.  Having  come  to  establish  a 
state  after  their  own   ideas,   they  proposed   to  defend   it 


138  A  History  of  Connecticut 

against  all  invaders,  and  the  Quakers  were  invaders  who 
came  from  the  old  world  for  the  declared  purpose  of  dis- 
turbance and  overthrow,  publishing  principles  aiming  at 
the  foundations  of  religion  and  society  as  the  Puritans 
imderstood  those  priceless  boons.  The  Quakers  reviled 
the  faith  and  worship  which  the  settlers  had  endured  all 
kinds  of  hardships  to  enjoy,  outraging  the  religious  rights 
and  freedom  of  the  people.  Deborah  Wilson,  a  Quaker 
preacher,  went  through  the  streets  of  Salem,  imdecorated 
even  with  fig  leaves,  and  in  similar  plight  women  sometimes 
went  into  public  religious  assemblies,  to  show  the  nakedness 
of  the  people's  sins.  In  view  of  the  dread  the  sect  awak- 
ened, the  New  England  commissioners  in  September, 
1656,  advised  the  colonies  to  take  measures  against  the 
Quakers,  and  Connecticut  complied,  so  far  as  to  direct  that 
any  town  that  harbored  them  should  be  fined;  but  the 
execution  of  the  penalties  was  to  be  left  to  the  discretion  of 
the  magistrates,  a  discretion  which  seems  to  have  been 
exercised  with  so  much  judgment  that,  despairing  of  martyr- 
dom, Quakers  gave  Connecticut  a  wide  berth.  New  Haven 
took  up  the  matter  with  more  zeal,  and  court  trials  increased 
offenders,  who  indignantly  assailed  the  methods  and  manners 
of  the  government  on  the  Sound. 

It  is  not  within  the  province  of  as  sturdy  human  nature 
as  that  which  settled  New  Haven  as  a  theocracy  to  endure 
men  who  would  abolish  all  distinction  between  clergy  and 
laity;  refusing  to  pay  tithes,  render  military  service,  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  or  yield  the  doctrine  of  the  In- 
ward Light.  Humphrey  Norton  was  whipped,  burned  in 
the  hand  with  the  letter  H  for  heretic,  and  banished,  and 
others  were  carried  back  to  Rhode  Island.  Less  vehement 
was  the  treatment  in  Hartford  of  John  Rous  and  John  Cope- 
land,  traveling  preachers,  who  reached  the  city  in  1658, 
and  being  allowed  to  hold  a  discussion  in  the  presence  of  the 
governor  and  magistrates,  they  were  told  at  the  close  that 
the  laws  of  the  colony  forbade  their  remaining  in  it,  and  that 


XKe  Early  IVeligious  Life  139 

they  would  better  continue  their  journey  to  Rhode  Island. 
They  did  so,  and  Rous  testified  in  behalf  of  Connecticut 
that  "among  all  the  colonies,  found  we  not  like  moderation 
as  this ;  most  of  the  magistrates  being  more  noble  than  those 
of  the  others."  In  1676,  when  the  constables  broke  up  a 
Friends'  meeting  in  New  London,  the  leader  of  the  Quakers 
says  that  "the  sober  people  were  offended  because  of  the 
attack,"  and  on  the  following  Sunday  at  Hartford,  he  was 
allowed  to  speak  unhindered  after  the  morning  meeting.  In 
1705,  the  queen  was  persuaded  by  William  Penn  to  annul  the 
Connecticut  law  of  1657,  against  "Heretics,  Infidels  and 
Quakers,"  and  in  1729,  influenced  by  the  action  of  EngHsh 
law,  the  General  Assembly  released  the  Quakers  from  paying 
taxes  to  support  the  established  churches,  provided  that  they 
could  show  a  certificate  vouching  for  their  support  of  their 
own  meetings  and  presence  there.  Connecticut  shared 
with  Massachusetts  in  dislike  for  the  Baptists,  and  in  1704, 
refused  them  permission  to  incorporate  church  estate. 
While  paying  secular  taxes  cheerfully,  the  Baptists  endured 
flogging,  fines,  and  imprisonment  rather  than  pay  the 
church  tax.  The  oppressive  measures  against  them  ceased 
on  the  inauguration  of  Governor  Talcott,  at  which  time  the 
Toleration  Act  gave  them  some  freedom,  and  in  1729,  the 
legislature  extended  to  the  Baptists  the  measure  of  freedom 
which  had  been  granted  to  Quakers. 

The  year  1702,  marked  the  beginning  of  a  definite  move- 
ment in  behalf  of  an  American  Episcopate.  The  prosperous 
and  contented  colony  attracted  settlers,  so  that  the  popula- 
tion trebled  about  every  twenty  years.  With  the  new- 
comers, there  appeared  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  settled  in 
Stratford  and  other  towns  near  New  York.  To  their  sur- 
prise, Connecticut  would  not  tolerate  their  services.  Com- 
plaint was  made  in  England  in  1702;  John  Talbot  and 
George  Keith,  missionary  priests  of  the  Church  of  England, 
reported  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  lodged  complaint 


140  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

of  oppression  of  dissenters  from  the  Congregational  Church. 
Talbot's  appeal  for  an  American  Episcopate  found  a  re- 
sponse in  a  strong  party  in  the  English  Church,  which  had 
formed  in  1701,  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  Foreign  Parts,  to  which  belonged  all  the  English  bishops. 
In  1705,  fourteen  clergymen  from  the  middle  colonies  framed 
a  petition  to  the  English  archbishop  and  bishops  for  a  bishop 
in  America,  referring  to  the  "inconveniences  which  the 
church  labors  under  by  the  influence  which  seditious 
men's  counsels  have."  Until  1709,  there  was  little  persecu- 
tion beyond  that  of  the  tongue.  When  they  were  not  al- 
lowed to  organize  churches,  and  were  forced  to  pay  taxes 
to  support  Congregationalism,  friends  in  England  heard 
some  emphatic  protests  from  churchmen  here.  It  was  an 
anxious  time  in  Connecticut,  which  had  not  forgotten 
Laud's  purpose  in  1638,  to  appoint  a  bishop  over  New 
England. 

The  enemies  of  this  commonwealth  were  scheming  to 
consolidate  the  New  England  colonies  under  a  royal  gov- 
ernor. Bills  to  that  end  were  introduced  into  Parliament 
in  1 701,  and  in  1706;  in  the  latter  year  John  Talbot  pleaded 
in  England  for  an  American  bishop,  voicing  the  importunity 
of  Connecticut  Episcopalians  for  relief  from  taxation  for  the 
Congregational  order.  Frightened  by  the  discontent,  and 
the  stormy  looks  of  English  friends  of  the  rising  body,  the 
General  Assembly  in  1708,  added  a  proviso  to  the  Saybrook 
Platform,  by  which  dissenters  could  qualify  before  county 
courts  for  organization  into  distinct  bodies  by  taking  oath  of 
fidelity  to  the  crown,  denying  transubstantiation,  and  by 
declaring  their  sober  dissent  from  CongregationaHsm ; 
provided  that  it  worked  no  detriment  to  the  established 
church.  It  would  be  for  a  man's  pecimiary  advantage  to 
stay  in  the  state  church,  otherwise  he  would  be  doubly 
taxed.  At  a  time  when  money  was  scarce,  double  taxation 
was  like  prohibition,  yet  the  meager  Toleration  Act  was 
regarded  as  a  measure  of  dangerous  liberality.     In   1709, 


TKe  Early  Religiovis  Life  141 

fines  and  imprisonments  began  in  earnest  and  persecution 
continued  for  forty  years.  Episcopalians  could  not  build, 
and  they  would  not  attend  Congregational  worship,  and 
magistrates,  refusing  to  recognize  the  services  held  in  pri- 
vate houses,  fined  them  for  absence  from  public  worship. 
This  treatment  ceased  when  it  was  learned  that  a  report 
of  the  court  proceedings  would  be  sent  to  England.  In 
1707,  an  Episcopal  church  was  organized  at  Stratford,  with 
thirty  communicants;  in  1718,  it  had  increased  to  one 
hundred  baptized  persons,  thirty-six  communicants,  and  a 
congregation  of  more  than  two  hundred  people,  ministered 
to  by  traveling  missionaries  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  and  by  a  missionary  priest.  Rev.  George 
Pigott,  under  whom,  in  1722,  Timothy  Cutler,  the  eloquent 
Rector  of  Yale  College,  and  six  of  his  associates  declared 
their  dissatisfaction  with  Congregationalism,  or,  as  they 
called  it,  the  Presbyterianism  of  the  Connecticut  established 
church.  Cutler  and  three  other  ministers  went  to  England 
for  ordination,  and  fear  seized  the  Congregationalists  lest 
Episcopacy  become  established  here  as  in  England;  hope 
cheered  the  churchmen  in  view  of  the  "glorious  revolu- 
tion." Classes  in  Yale  from  1723,  to  1733,  gave  many  of 
their  members  to  Episcopacy.  Agitation  for  exemption 
from  support  of  Congregationalism,  and  fines  for  neglecting 
its  worship,  continued.  In  1727,  the  General  Assembly 
passed  a  law  ordering  that  in  a  town  where  there  was  a 
Church  of  England,  the  taxes  of  such  as  declared  themselves 
as  attending  said  church  were  to  be  paid  to  it.  There 
was  more  or  less  of  haggling  and  petty  persecution  together 
with  ostracism  of  churchmen,  and  attempts  to  defraud 
Episcopalians  of  money  from  sale  of  public  lands.  Trying 
as  were  these  experiences,  their  own  writers  admit  that  at 
that  period  the  churchmen  in  Connecticut  suffered  less 
than  in  New  York  and  the  southern  colonies;  the  effort  for 
an  Apostolic  Episcopate  did  not  cease  imtil  it  culminated, 
in  1784,  in  the  consecration  of  Samuel  Seabury  as  bishop 


142  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

of  Connecticut.  In  less  than  twenty  years  from  the  passage 
of  the  Toleration  Act,  Baptists  and  Quakers  had  challenged 
the  Establishment  and  obtained  concessions  which  prepared 
for  a  larger  liberty  later  on. 

The  Rogerines,  a  species  of  Quakers,  began  to  make 
trouble  about  1720,  near  New  London.  They  were  the 
followers  of  John  Rogers,  and  since  their  business  was  to 
destroy  priestcraft  they  began  by  trying  to  break  up  the 
Sunday  meetings.  They  would  go  in  small  bands  to  the 
churches,  carrying  their  knitting,  sewing,  hatcheling,  and 
joinering,  and  by  hammering,  singing,  and  shouting  try  to 
drown  the  voice  of  the  speaker.  Rogers  beset  the  mild  and 
gentle  Dr.  Lord  on  his  way  to  church,  and  followed  him, 
shouting  against  priestcraft,  and  just  as  the  minister  reached 
the  porch  of  the  meeting-house,  and  taking  off  his  hat  dis- 
played a  white  wig,  Rogers  exclaimed  in  a  loud  voice, 
"Benjamin!  Benjamin!  dost  thou  think  that  they  wear 
white  wigs  in  heaven?"  Benjamin  would  have  been  just  as 
saintly  had  he  asked  in  reply,  "John!  John!  dost  thou  think 
there  will  be  revilers  in  heaven?"  Some  of  them  were 
fined  for  traveling  on  Sunday,  and  in  July,  1726,  six  of 
them  were  arrested  at  Norwich  for  this  offense,  and  were 
committed  to  prison.  When  taken  before  Justice  Backus, 
they  were  sentenced  to  pay  twenty  shillings  apiece,  or  to 
be  whipped  ten  or  fifteen  lashes;  not  being  able  to  pay 
the  fine  they  were  taken  to  the  plain  and  whipped  with 
privet.  One  of  them  had  warm  tar  poured  upon  his  head, 
and  his  hat  put  on,  for  refusing  to  remove  his  hat  in  court. 
The  prosecutions  and  persecutions  went  on  for  a  few  years, 
John  Rogers  claiming  that  he  was  sentenced  at  one  time 
without  benefit  of  jury  and  at  another  that  his  son's  cattle 
were  seized  to  pay  the  father's  fines. 

We  have  noticed  that  at  first  the  support  of  ministers 
was  by  voluntary  contributions,  a  method  which  worked 
well,  while  devotion  to  religion  flamed.  It  was  the  custom, 
for  example,  in  Norwich  for  the  people  to  carry  their  pro- 


TKe  Early  Relig'ioxis  Life  143 

portion  of  wheat,  rye,  peas,  and  Indian  com  on  or  before 
March  20,  but  it  became  necessary  even  in  Norwich,  trained 
as  it  was  by  the  reverend  James  Fitch,  to  appoint  collectors, 
which  was  done  in  1686,  and  monthly  contributions  were 
sometimes  taken  to  make  up  deficiencies.  We  have  spoken 
of  the  code  of  1650,  as  requiring  all  persons  to  bear  their 
share,  and  soon  it  was  the  custom  to  lay  a  tax  of  from  one 
penny  to  threepence  in  the  pound  "for  the  encouragement 
of  the  ministry,"  but,  in  1677,  the  matter  was  transferred 
to  the  town,  and  made  a  part  of  the  town  finances,  and  at 
that  time  a  regular  salary  was  proposed.  There  was  a 
custom  which  tended  toward  the  permanence  of  the  pastor- 
ate, and  that  was  the  habit  of  laying  a  special  tax  when 
a  minister  was  installed  over  a  church;  a  sum  equal  to  the 
salary  of  two  years  was  paid  him  "for  settlement,"  as  it 
was  called,  and  with  the  amount  he  bought  land,  built  a 
house  and  bam,  and  thus  made  a  home,  which  he  was  sup- 
posed to  occupy  until  death.  It  was  expensive  to  settle 
a  minister,  and  there  was  more  than  one  reason  why  churches 
were  reluctant  to  change.  The  permanence  of  the  pastorate, 
together  with  the  fact  that  the  minister  was  usually  the  best 
educated  man  in  the  community,  tended  to  give  him  a 
prominent  place  in  the  life  of  a  town. 

In  this  review  of  the  religious  life  of  the  early  years  we 
have  seen  how  the  earlier  seriousness  passed  into  indiffer- 
ence or  worse,  and  the  heavy  hand  of  the  magistrate  was 
enlisted  to  keep  the  people  faithful  to  the  churches;  that 
while  the  Half-way  Covenant  was  considered  an  adroit 
way  out  of  a  serious  difficulty,  it  tended  toward  weakness: 
diminishing  the  conviction  of  need  of  a  spiritual  life ;  calling 
into  a  quasi-membership  in  the  churches  many  who  made  no 
pretensions  to  such  a  life — men  in  formal  covenant  with  a 
church,  and  careful  to  have  their  children  baptized,  yet 
caring  little  for  the  church  as  an  institution  of  religion.  We 
have  glanced  at  some  of  the  causes  of  decline  in  the  religious 
life  of  the  people  toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century, 


144  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

and  have  seen  a  growth  in  toleration  toward  religious  people 
of  different  views  from  the  established  Congregationalists — 
a  progress  real,  though  largely  brought  about  by  pressure 
from  England — but  it  is  pleasant  to  close  the  chapter  with 
the  note  of  a  broader  charity  and  a  more  tolerant  spirit. 


CHAPTER  X 
WITCHCRAFT 

IT  is  a  melancholy  passage  from  the  religious  life  of  the  early 
years,  depressing  as  are  some  of  the  phases  of  it,  to  the 
delirium  of  witchcraft:  the  morbid  and  often  cruel  notions 
prevailing  concerning  the  unseen  world.  Would  that  the 
settlers  might  have  risen  above  the  pitiful  slough  of  belief 
in  the  possession  of  demons!  But  it  was  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  the  delusion,  which  is  as  old  as  the  race,  pre- 
vailed in  Europe  for  hundreds  of  years,  that  Satan  and  his 
associates  were  exploiting  the  world,  as  the  sworn  enemies 
of  God  and  the  churches.  The  fundamental  authority  for 
all  legislation  on  the  subject  was  Exodus  xxii.,  i8,  "Thou 
shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live,"  and  since  the  Bible  was 
reverenced  as  authoritative  in  every  part,  there  was  but 
one  thing  to  do.  From  its  earliest  history,  the  church  looked 
on  witchcraft  as  a  deadly  sin,  and  disbelief  in  it  as  a  heresy, 
and  no  better  definition  of  it  as  a  popular  delusion  can  be 
found  than  the  one  set  forth  in  the  New  England  indictment, 
"  Interteining  familiarity  with  Satan,  the  enemy  of  mankind, 
and  by  his  help  doing  works  above  the  course  of  nature." 
Compacts  with  Satan  were  regarded  as  common  for  centuries, 
and  the  destruction  of  those  who  made  them  was  regarded 
as  the  plainest  duty.  For  three  hundred  years,  the  flames 
were  hot  and  fierce  in  Europe,  spreading  slowly  from  the 
continent  to  England  and  Scotland. 

Coke,  Bacon,  Hale,  and  even  Blackstone,  were  infected. 
10  145 


146  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

It  was  a  misdemeanor  at  English  common  law,  and  made  a 
felony  without  benefit  of  clergy  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
and  of  Elizabeth.  In  1603,  at  the  accession  of  James  I., 
a  new  law  was  enacted  with  an  exact  definition,  which  was 
in  force  for  a  century.     Its  main  provision  was  this : 

If  any  person  or  persons  use,  practice  or  exercise  any  invocation 
of  any  wicked  spirit,  or  consult,  entertain,  employ  or  reward  any 
wicked  spirit  for  any  purpose,  or  take  up  any  dead  man,  woman 
or  child  out  of  their  grave,  or  the  skin,  bone  or  any  part  of  any 
dead  person,  to  be  used  in  any  manner  of  witchcraft,  sorcery, 
charm  or  enchantment,  or  shall  use,  practice  or  exercise  any 
witchcraft,  charm  or  sorcery,  whereby  any  person  shall  be  killed, 
destroyed,  wasted,  consumed,  pined  or  lamed  in  his  or  her  body: 
every  such  offender  is  a  felon,  without  benefit  of  clergy. 

Under  this  law  witchcraft  increased,  and  persecutions  multi- 
plied, especially  under  the  Commonwealth,  and  notably 
in  the  eastern  counties  of  England, — rich  source  of  emigrants 
to  America.  It  is  estimated  that  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  persons  were  put  to  death  in  Europe  during  the 
three  centuries  in  which  the  delusion  prevailed.  Possessed 
with  such  notions,  the  General  Court,  in  1642,  ordered  that 
"If  any  man  or  woman  be  a  witch,  that  is,  hath,  or  con- 
sulted with,  a  familiar  spirit — they  shall  be  put  to  death." 
New  Haven  had  a  similar  law,  and  persons  suspected  of 
witchcraft  were  tried,  condemned,  and  executed,  without 
any  question  of  the  justice  of  such  proceedings.  The  Salem 
witchcraft  raged  from  March  to  September,  1692,  and 
nineteen  persons  were  hanged,  one  man  pressed  to  death 
and  fifty-five  suffered  torture,  but  it  was  forty-five  years 
before  the  Salem  tragedy  that  the  Land  of  Steady  Habits 
entered  the  campaign  against  the  poor,  unfortunate  creatures. 
The  first  victim  was  Alse  Young  of  Windsor,  who  was 
hanged  in  Hartford,  on  May  26,  1647,  according  to  the  diary 
of  Matthew  Grant,  the  town  clerk  of  Windsor,  In  the 
following  year,  Mary  Johnson  of  Wethersfield  was  arrested 


WitcKcraft  147 

and  a  "Bill  of  Inditement"  was  framed  against  her  of 
"familiarity  with  the  Deuill, "  and  chiefly  on  her  own  con- 
fession she  was  found  guilty  and  executed,  and  the  prison- 
keeper's  charges  being  allowed  by  the  Court,  were  ordered 
paid  "out  of  her  estate."  A  pathetic  incident  attaches 
to  the  case,  as  a  child  "was  borne  in  the  prison  to  her." 
Mather  says  in  his  Magnalia,  "She  dyd  in  a  frame  extreamly 
to  the  satisfaction  of  them  that  were  spectators  of  it." 

On  February  20,  1651,  an  indictment  was  found  against 
a  Wethersfield  carpenter  named  John  Carrington  and  his 
wife  for  having  "Interteined  familiarity  with  Sathan,  the 
Create  Enemye  of  Cod  and  Mankinde, "  and  for  accomplish- 
ing works  past  human  power.     They  were  hanged  on  March 

19,  1653. 

One  of  the  most  pathetic  cases  was  that  of  Goodwife 
Knap  of  Fairfield,  a  woman,  who,  so  far  as  we  can  now 
judge,  was  very  different  from  some  of  the  others  who  were 
arraigned;  "simple-minded,"  Schenck  calls  her  in  his  history 
of  Fairfield,  but  gossip  and  scandal  got  after  the  poor  crea- 
ture and  she  was  committed  to  the  jail,  the  cold  and  gloomy 
prison  of  logs,  with  a  single  barred  window  and  massive 
door,  in  charge  of  a  harsh  jailer.  On  the  day  of  her  condem- 
nation, a  self -constituted  committee  of  one  man  and  four 
women  visited  the  jail  and  pressed  the  victim  to  name  any 
other  witch  in  town,  and  after  they  had  baited,  threatened, 
and  badgered  her  to  their  hearts'  content,  in  the  agony  of 
her  soul  she  cried  out  to  her  relentless  persecutors,  "Never, 
never  poore  creature  was  tempted  as  I  am  tempted,  pray, 
pray  for  me." 

The  cases  of  1662,  were  the  nearest  approach  made  in 
Connecticut  to  the  Salem  cases  of  thirty  years  later.  Seven 
cases  were  indicted,  of  whom  two  were  executed,  and  prob- 
ably a  third.  This  epidemic  began  with  the  eight-year- 
old  girl  of  John  Kelley,  who  in  the  spring  of  1662,  cried  out 
in  the  delirium  of  illness  against  Mrs.  William  Ayres,  who 
saw  in  the  cry  a  death-warrant  and  fled.     Soon  afterward, 


148  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

Ann  Cole,  a  religious  melancholiac,  tormented  with  doubts 
about  her  religious  welfare,  had  fits  of  derangement  in  which 
she  talked  for  hours  about  a  company  of  evil  spirits  taking 
counsel  to  ruin  her.  Others  caught  the  contagion,  and  Ann 
and  two  others  had  attacks  in  church.  A  special  day  of 
prayer  was  held  for  them,  on  which  the  demonic  exhibition 
was  so  effective  that  one  of  the  company  fainted  at  the 
sight.  Ann  Cole  denounced  Mrs.  Richard  Seager  as  a 
witch.  The  accused  said  the  charge  was  a  "hodge-podge," 
but  she  barely  escaped  with  her  life,  being  indicted  three 
times.  On  July  16,  1665,  Mrs.  Seager  was  convicted  and 
lodged  in  prison  for  a  year,  then  removed  to  Rhode  Island, 
that  refuge  of  the  oppressed.  Later,  Ann  Cole  recovered 
control  of  her  nerves  and  also  acquired  a  surplus,  for  she 
married  Andrew  Benton,  a  widower  with  eight  children. 

An  average  sample  of  the  people  implicated  in  this 
debauch  of  superstition,  ignorance,  and  disordered  nerves 
was  Nathanael  Greensmith,  who  lived  in  Hartford,  next 
to  the  Coles'  on  the  first  lot  on  the  present  Wethersfield 
Avenue.  He  was  a  well-to-do  farmer,  occasionally  convicted 
of  thefts,  assault,  and  lying.  His  wife  Rebecca  was  described 
by  Rev.  John  Whiting  as  a  "lewd,  ignorant,  and  consider- 
ably aged  woman."  Rebecca  Greensmith  had  a  genius  for 
confessions  of  everything  alleged  by  the  witch-hunters. 
She  had  evidently  fed  her  degenerate  mind  with  all  sorts 
of  rubbish  from  the  witch  lore,  was  prompt  to  admit 
all  kinds  of  misdemeanors,  and  accused  every  one  within 
reach,  even  her  husband.  Gossip  and  rumor  about  these 
unpopular  neighbors  culminated  in  a  formal  complaint,  and 
December  30,  1662,  at  a  Court  held  in  Hartford,  both  the 
Greensmiths  were  separately  indicted  in  the  same  charge, 
which  ran  as  follows : 

Nathanael  Greensmith,  thou  art  indicted  by  the  name  of 
Nathanael  Greensmith,  for  not  having  the  fear  of  God  before 
thine  eyes,  thou  hast  entertained  familiarity  with  Satan,  the 


"WitcHcraft  149 

grand  enemy  of  God  and  mankind — and  by  his  help  has  acted 
things  in  a  preternatural  way  beyond  human  abilities  in  a 
natural  course,  for  which,  according  to  the  law  of  God  and  the 
established  law  of  this  commonwealth,  thou  deservest  to  die. 

The  extent  to  which  the  delusion  went  is  suggested  in  the 
account  given  by  two  ministers,  Haynes  and  Whiting,  who 
interviewed  Goody  Greensmith  while  she  was  in  prison, 
and  wrote  out  the  confession  which  Increase  Mather  re- 
garded as  convictive  a  proof  of  real  witchcraft  as  most  cases 
he  had  known. 

"She  forthwith  and  freely  confessed  those  things  to  be 
true,  that  she  had  familiarity  with  the  devil.  The  devil 
told  her  that  at  Christmas  they  would  have  a  merry  meeting, 
and  then  the  covenant  would  be  drawn  up  and  subscribed." 
This  made  a  decided  impression  on  the  learned  Rev.  Samuel 
Stone,  who  was  in  the  Court,  and  he  laid  forth  with  weight 
and  earnestness  the  dreadful  sin  Rebecca  had  committed, 
and  solemnly  took  notice  that  the  devil  loved  Christmas! 
She  said  that  the  devil  first  appeared  to  her  in  the  form  of  a 
deer  or  fawn,  skipping  about  her;  some  of  the  company 
came  in  one  shape  and  some  in  another;  one  flying  as  a 
crow.  One  of  the  reasons  why  Rebecca  was  convinced  that 
her  husband  had  help  from  the  devil  was,  as  she  testified 
in  the  court,  "  I  have  seen  logs  that  my  husband  hath  brought 
home  in  his  cart  that  I  wondered  at  it  that  he  could  get  them 
into  the  cart  being  a  man  of  little  body,  and  ye  logs  were 
such  that  I  thought  two  men  such  as  he  could  not  have  done 
it."  The  Greensmiths  were  convicted  and  sentenced  to 
suffer  death,  and  in  January,  1662,  they  were  hanged 
on  "Gallows  Hill,"  on  the  bluff  a  little  north  of  where 
Trinity  College  now  stands ;  an  excellent  place  for  the  crowd 
in  the  meadows  to  the  west  to  witness  a  popular  form  of 
entertainment. 

Two  days  before  the  last  confession  of  Goody  Green- 
smith,  Mary  Barnes  of  Farmington  was  indicted  for  witch- 


150  A  History  of  Connecticut 

craft  and  found  guilty  by  the  jury.  The  only  further  note  of 
her  fate  is  a  bill  for  "keep "  in  prison ;  and  as  it  was  for  about 
the  same  length  of  time  as  the  Greensmiths,  she  was  prob- 
ably executed  like  them.  In  May,  1669,  occurred  the  most 
remarkable  case  in  the  colony,  when  Katheran  Harrison, 
one  of  the  richest  people  in  Wethersfield,  was  indicted  for 
witchcraft  at  the  Court  of  Assistants  in  Hartford,  presided 
over  by  Deputy  Governor  John  Mason,  and  the  suspected 
woman  was  committed  to  the  common  jail  imtil  the  trial. 
On  May  25,  at  a  court  presided  over  by  Governor  John 
Winthrop,  Jr.,  with  Deputy  Governor  William  Leete,  Major 
Mason,  and  others  as  assistants,  the  indictment  was  as 
follows: 

Katheran  Harrison,  thou  standest  here  indicted  by  ye  name  of 
Katheran  Harrison  (of  Wethersfield)  as  being  guilty  of  witch- 
craft, for  that  thou  not  haueing  the  fear  of  God  before  thine  eyes 
hast  had  familiaritie  with  Sathan,  the  grand  enemie  of  god  and 
mankind,  and  by  his  help  hast  acted  things  beyond  and  beside 
the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  and  hast  thereby  hurt  the  bodyes 
of  divers  of  the  subjects  of  our  souraigne  Lord  and  King,  of 
which  by  the  law  of  god  and  of  this  corporation  thou  oughtest  to 
dye. 

Katheran  pleaded  not  guilty  and  "refered  herself  to  a 
try  all  by  the  jury  present."  A  partial  trial  was  held  in 
May,  but  the  jury  could  not  agree,  and  the  court  adjourned 
to  October,  while  Mrs.  Harrison  went  to  jail. 

Here  are  samples  of  the  miserable  drivel  to  which  Win- 
throp, Mason,  Treat,  and  Leete  listened.  Thomas  Bracy 
testified  that  he  was  at  the  house  of  Hugh  Wells,  over 
against  the  Harrison  house,  making  a  jacket  and  pair  of 
breeches,  when  he  fell  into  unaccountable  blimders,  and 
looking  out  he  saw  a  cart  loaded  with  hay  approaching  the 
Harrison  bam,  and  on  the  top  of  the  hay  a  "red  calves 
head,  the  cares  standing  peart  up,"  and  keeping  his  eyes 
on  the  cart  till  it  came  to  the  bam,  the  calf  vanished.     Then 


"Witchcraft  151 

he  said  he  suspected  Katheran  Harrison  of  witchcraft,  and 
once  while  in  bed  he  saw  Mrs.  Harrison  and  James  Wakely 
at  his  bedside  consulting  to  kill  him ;  Wakely  wanted  to  cut 
his  throat,  but  Katheran  wished  to  strangle  him.  Pres- 
ently Katheran  seized  him  and  pulled  or  pinched  him  so 
that  it  seemed  as  though  she  would  pull  the  flesh  from  his 
bones,  and  he  groaned.  His  father  heard  him  and  spoke, 
and  he  stopped  groaning;  then  Katheran  "fell  again  to 
afflictinge  and  pinching,"  at  which  repeated  groans  brought 
his  father  and  mother  to  the  bedside,  and  James  and 
Katheran  went  to  "the  beds  feete."  The  next  day 
appeared  marks  of  the  pinching.  Joane  Francis  said 
that  four  years  before,  on  the  night  her  child  was  taken 
ill.  Good  wife  Harrison  or  her  shape  appeared,  and  Joane 
said,  "The  Lord  bless  me  and  my  child,  here  is  Goody 
Harrison."  Three  weeks  later  the  child  died.  The  widow 
of  Jacob  Johnson  said  that  her  husband  was  lying  in 
bed  in  Windsor,  when  he  had  "a  great  box  on  the  head, 
and  after  he  came  home  he  was  ill,  and  Goodwife 
Harrison  did  help  him  with  diet,  drink  and  plasters," 
then  she  sent  for  Captain  Atwood  to  help,  and  that 
night,  "to  the  best  of  my  apprehension,  I  saw  the  like- 
ness of  Goodwife  Harrison  with  her  face  toward  my 
husband,  and  I  turned  about  to  lock  the  door,  and  she 
vanisht  away.  Then  my  husband's  nose  fell  a  bleeding 
in  an  extraordinary  manner,  and  so  continued  (if  it  were 
not  meddled  with)  to  his  dying  day."  Mary  Hale  testified 
that  while  lying  in  bed  she  saw  an  ugly  dog  with  the  head  of 
Katheran  Harrison  instead  of  its  own,  and  it  walked  over 
her  and  crushed  her;  then  came  a  sharp  blow  on  the  fingers. 
On  another  night  she  heard  the  voice  of  a  woman  who  said  she 
had  a  commission  to  kill  her,  and  she  knew  it  was  the  voice  of 
Katheran  Harrison.  Elizabeth  Smith  gave  some  neighborly 
gossip,  saying  that  Katheran  was  a  "great  or  notorious  liar, 
a  Sabbath  breaker  and  one  that  told  fortunes ' ' ;  that  she  never 
knew  any  one  else  who  could  spin  such  yarns  as  she. 


152  -Al  History  of  Connecticut 

On  such  testimony  as  this  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of 
guilty.  But  the  magistrates  doubted  about  receiving  the 
verdict,  and  took  counsel  of  the  ministers,  who  rendered  a 
cautious  response  to  the  four  questions  asked  of  them  in 
a  paper  in  the  handwriting  of  Rev.  Gershom  Bulkley  of 
Wethersfield,  in  which  it  was  declared  that  the  communica- 
tion of  things  that  cannot  be  known  by  human  skill  or 
strength  of  reason,  "in  the  way  of  divination  seemes  to  us 
to  argue  familiarity  with  ye  devill,  in  as  much  as  such  a 
person  doth  thereby  declare  his  receiving  the  devills  testi- 
mony, &  yeeld  up  himself e  as  ye  devills  instrument  to  com- 
municate the  same  to  others." 

Meanwhile  Katheran  was  not  idle.  She  addressed  a 
petition  to  the  court,  setting  forth  her  sufferings  in  person 
and  estate.  We  are  not  surprised  that  in  her  sense  of  wrong 
she  should  have  told  Michael  Griswold  that  he  would  hang 
her,  though  he  damned  a  thousand  souls,  and  as  for  his  own 
soul  it  was  damned  long  ago.  For  this  Michael  brought 
two  suits  for  slander,  and  Katheran  was  adjudged  to  pay 
him  twenty-five  pounds  and  costs  in  one  case,  and  fifteen 
pounds  and  costs  in  the  other.  On  May  20,  1670,  the 
General  Assembly  refused  to  concur  with  the  court  in  its 
verdict,  sentencing  Mrs.  Harrison  to  death,  and  dismissed 
her  from  a  year's  imprisonment,  on  condition  that  she  pay 
the  costs  of  the  trial,  and  remove  from  Wethersfield,  "which 
is  that  will  tend  most  to  her  own  safety,  and  the  contentment 
of  the  people  who  are  her  neighbors."  She  went  to  West- 
chester, N.  Y.,  but  the  stories  followed  her,  and  the  people 
there  tried  to  send  her  back.  After  three  years  of  harrying, 
an  accusation  before  the  Dutch  governor  failed,  and  she  was 
released,  and  told  she  could  live  where  she  pleased. 

At  the  time  of  the  Salem  craze  in  1692,  one  spot  in  Con- 
necticut suffered  deeply;  that  bloodshed  did  not  attend  it 
was  due  to  the  broadening  of  mind  which  had  begun  to 
appear.  A  special  court  was  held  in  Fairfield,  the  storm 
center,    in    September,    1692,    including    Governor    Treat, 


"WitcHcraft  I53 

Deputy  Governor  William  Jones,  and  Secretary  John 
Allyn — and  a  grand  and  petty  jury.  To  prepare  evidence, 
the  townspeople  had  put  two  suspects  to  the  water  ordeal; 
both  "swam  like  a  cork,"  though  the  crowd  tried  to  push  one 
of  them  under.  Four  women  were  indicted,  and  two  hundred 
witnesses  examined.  The  distinguished  court  listened  for 
days  to  gossipy  stories  about  roaring  calves,  mired  cows, 
creases  in  the  kettle,  frisky  oxen,  unbewitching  sick  children, 
optical  illusions,  and  mesmeric  influence.  The  jury  dis- 
agreed, and  the  court  met  again  on  October  28,  for  the  final 
decision.  A  committee  of  women  examined  the  prisoners' 
bodies  for  witch-marks.  The  jury  acquitted  all  except 
Mercy  Disborough,  who  was  convicted.  The  governor 
pronounced  the  death  sentence;  but  a  memorial  for  her 
pardon  was  drawn  up,  and  since  she  was  living  fifteen  years 
afterward,  we  know  that  the  poor  creature  escaped  the 
gallows.  An  indictment  in  1697,  closed  the  Connecticut 
witchcraft  persecutions,  when  a  woman  and  her  daughter 
of  twelve  years  were  indicted  for  "  misteriously  hurting  the 
Bodies  and  Goods"  of  several  people.  They  were  searched 
for  witch-teats,  subjected  to  the  water  ordeal,  and  excom- 
municated from  the  church ;  what  became  of  them  we  do  not 
know,  except  that  they  fled  to  New  York  for  their  lives. 
The  number  of  executions  in  Connecticut  is  believed  to  be 
nine  and  possibly  eleven.  Three  other  convictions  were 
found,  but  the  court  set  aside  the  verdicts. 

We  are  ashamed  of  this  dreary  story  of  gossipy,  half 
crazy,  superstitious  people,  and  our  meager  consolation 
is  a  remark  of  Hutchinson,  late  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
that  "more  have  been  put  to  death  in  a  single  county  in 
England  in  a  short  space  of  time,  than  have  suffered  in 
all  New  England  from  the  first  settlement  to  this  time." 
New  Haven  escaped  bloodshed  by  having  judge  instead  of 
jury  trial,  and  that  judge,  the  sensible  and  considerate 
Theophilus  Eaton. 

In  the  main,  the  suspects  were  apt  to  be  cranky  and 


154  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

unbalanced  people,  whose  neighbors  became  social  police 
to  rid  the  community  of  trying  characters.  That  only  ten 
lost  their  lives  in  Connecticut  during  this  craze  is  a  trib- 
ute to  the  common  sense  of  the  Connecticut  lawyers 
and  ministers,  in  an  age  when  the  people  gave  the  devil  so 
conspicuous  and  dignified  an  agency  in  the  affairs  of  life 
that  they  were  inclined  to  confess  his  presence  at  all  times; 
and  when  an  authority  like  Blackstone  could  write  in  a 
century  after  the  witchcraft  craze,  "To  deny  the  possibility, 
nay  actual  evidence  of  Witchcraft  and  sorcery,  is  at  once  to 
flatly  contradict  the  revealed  word  of  God  in  various  pas- 
sages both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments." 


CHAPTER  XI 
SLAVERY 

ONE  of  the  curious  inconsistencies  of  the  Puritan 
emigration  is  that  for  generations  there  were  slaves 
in  Connecticut.  Abhorring  as  they  did  religious  and 
political  slavery,  the  people  did  not  object  to  family  slav- 
ery so  long  as  it  paid.  Sagacious  and  heavenly-minded 
as  were  John  Davenport  and  Edward  Hopkins,  they  were 
not  averse  to  keeping  slaves,  and  the  tradition  is  that 
the  Rev.  Ezra  Stiles,  later  on  president  of  Yale  College, 
and  a  vigorous  advocate  of  emancipation,  sent  a  barrel 
of  rum  to  Africa  to  be  exchanged  for  a  negro  slave. 
The  justification  ran  in  this  fashion,  "It  is  a  great  privi- 
lege for  the  poor  negroes  to  be  taken  from  the  ignorant 
and  wicked  people  of  Guiana  and  placed  in  a  Christian 
land,  where  they  can  become  good  Christians  and  go  to 
heaven  when  they  die."  The  caste  system  was  marked 
in  the  colony,  and  superiors,  equals,  and  inferiors  were 
recognized  in  church,  prayer,  and  social  life ;  there  being 
no  more  question  about  the  rightfulness  of  keeping  slaves 
than  of  owning  cows  or  chickens. 

From  1639,  when  the  records  say  there  was  a  boy  in 
Hartford  from  Dutch  Guiana,  slavery  prevailed  for  two 
himdred  years.  The  Pequot  war  furnished  the  first  slaves, 
and  the  money  paid  for  them  helped  meet  the  expenses  of 
the  war.  Few  individual  men  owned  many  of  these  humble 
workers,  and  the  largest  owner  was  Godfrey  Malbome  of 

155 


J> 


v 


156  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

Brooklyn,  who  had  fifty  or  sixty  slaves  on  his  large  estate. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  slave  sold  for 
from  sixty  shillings  to  twenty-five  pounds ;  later,  the  price 
rose  to  one  hundred  pounds  for  choice  goods.  In  1756,  there 
were  in  Connecticut  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  slaves,  one  to  every  thirty-five  of  the  whites.  In  1 774,  the 
number  had  doubled,  giving  a  slave  to  every  twenty-nine  of 
the  whites,  while  in  1800,  there  were  four  thousand  three 
hundred  and  thirty  slaves,  or  one  in  fifty-nine  of  the  freemen. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  Guiana  as  the  source  of 
slaves,  and  the  question  how  they  came  to  Connecticut  is 
interesting  in  its  bearing  upon  the  traffic  of  those  days,  and 
the  zeal  of  a  Yankee  when  he  could  see  some  money  alluring 
him.  Soon  after  the  settlement  there  sprang  up  a  trade 
with  the  West  Indies,  and  some  of  the  vessels,  after  leaving 
their  cargoes,  went  to  Africa  and  gathered  a  load  of  negroes 
for  the  southern  market.  Of  the  twenty- two  sea  captains 
of  Middletown  before  the  Revolution,  three  were  in  the  slave 
trade,  Captains  Walker,  Gleason,  and  Easton.  The  last 
named  was  one  of  the  most  successful  slave-dealers  of  his 
time;  he  would  take  droves  of  negroes  to  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont,  when  the  market  was  dull  in  Connecticut, 
and  exchange  them  for  horses.  In  1804,  a  vessel  from  Hart- 
ford carried  two  hundred  and  fifty  negroes  to  Charleston, 
S.  C,  and  captains  from  New  Haven  and  New  London  were 
engaged  in  the  traffic. 

It  was  a  family  institution  and  the  slaves  seem  to  have 
been  treated  fairly  well.  Tapping  Reeve,  the  head  of  the 
famous  Litchfield  Law  School,  says  that 

the  master  had  no  control  over  the  life  of  his  slave.  If  he  killed 
him  he  was  liable  to  the  same  punishment  as  if  he  killed  a  free- 
man. A  slave  was  capable  of  holding  property  in  the  character 
of  a  devisee  or  legatee.  If  a  slave  married  a  fre'e  woman  with  the 
consent  of  his  master,  he  was  emancipated ;  for  his  master  had  suf- 
fered him  to  contract  a  relation  inconsistent  with  a  state  of  slavery. 


..^^.. 


Slavery  157 

Owners  were  required  to  support  slaves;  it  was  voted  by 
the  Assembly  in  1702,  that  if  a  slave  gained  his  liberty,  and 
afterwards  came  to  want,  he  should  be  relieved  at  the  cost 
of  the  person  in  whose  service  he  was  last  retained,  and  by 
whom  set  at  liberty,  or  at  the  cost  of  his  heirs.  General 
Putnam  freed  his  body-servant  Dick  and  bought  a  farm 
for  his  Indian  servant.  Deacon  Gray  of  Windham  kept 
his  old  negroes  in  a  cabin,  where  he  supplied  them  with  food. 
It  appears  that  the  law  of  i;^^,  to  insure  the  care  of  freed 
slaves,  was  evaded,  for,  in  171 1,  a  further  act  was  passed, 
applying  to  all  "negro,  malatto,  or  Spanish  Indians  .  .  . 
servants  .  .  .  for  time,"  who  come  to  want  after  the  expira- 
tion of  the  term  of  service.  The  provision  was  that  in  case 
those  responsible  refused  to  care  for  them,  the  sufferers 
should  be  relieved  by  the  selectmen  of  the  towns  to  which 
they  belonged,  who  might  "recover  of  the  said  owners  or 
masters,  or  their  heirs,  executors  or  administrators,  all  the 
charge  and  cost  they  were  at  for  such  relief,  as  in  the  case  of 
other  debts."  In  1777^  the  law  was  modified.  A  man 
wishing  to  emancipate  his  slave  could  apply  to  the  selectmen, 
who  were  required  to  investigate  the  case.  If  they  decided 
that  it  was  for  the  best  interests  of  the  slave  that  he  should 
be  liberated,  and  that  he  would  probably  be  self-supporting, 
and  that  he  was  of  "good  and  peaceable  life  and  conversa- 
tion, "  they  were  empowered  to  give  to  the  master  a  certifi- 
cate stating  their  decision,  and  allowing  him  to  free  his  slave 
without  any  obligation  to  support  him. 

By  an  act  of  1792,  permission  might  be  granted  by  two 
of  the  civil  officerS^ho  were  not  selectmen,  or  by  one  of 
them  and  two  selectmen,  to  liberate  a  slave  who  was  not 
less  than  twenty-five  or  more  than  forty-five  years  old,  who 
was  in  good  health,  and  who,  they  were  satisfied  from  per- 
sonal examination,  wished  his  freedom.  If  after  examina- 
tion the  certificate  was  granted  and  recorded  in  the  town 
records,  together  with  the  letter  of  emancipation,  the  mas- 
ter's responsibility  ceased.      A  strict  fugitive  slave  law  was 


158  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

passed  in  1690,  and,  in  1702,  it  was  ordered  that  no  slave 
could  travel  without  a  pass  from  his  master  or  the  town 
authorities,  and  any  one  assisting  a  runaway  was  liable  to 
a  fine  of  twenty  shillings.  In  1774,  there  appeared  in  the 
Connecticut  Gazette  the  following  advertisement: 

Ten  Dollars  Reward.  Run  away  from  the  subscriber  in 
Canterbury,  a  Mulatto  slave.  He  is  a  slender  built  fellow,  has 
thick  Lips,  a  curled  mulatto  Head  of  Hair  uncut,  and  goes  stoop- 
ing forward.  He  had  on  &  carried  with  him  when  he  eloped 
from  his  Master  a  half  worn  felt  Hat,  a  black  and  white  tow 
shirt,  a  dark  brown  Jacket,  with  slieves  cuffed  &  Pewter  Buttons 
down  before,  a  Butter  Nut  colored  Great  Coat  with  Pewter 
Buttons,  a  Pair  of  striped  long  Trowsers,  &  a  pair  of  white 
Ditto,  a  pair  of  White  Tow  Stockings;  &  a  pair  of  single  chan- 
nel Pumps.  Whoever  will  take  up  said  Slave  and  deliver  him 
to  the  Subscriber  in  Canterbury  shall  have  the  above  Reward, 
and  all  necessary  Charges  paid  by  me,  Daniel  Tyler,  Canterbury, 
June  27,  1774. 

In  the  preamble  of  an  act  passed  in  1708,  it  was  stated 
that  negroes  and  mulattoes  had  become  numerous  in  parts 
of  the  colony  and  were  turbulent  and  quarrelsome.  Any 
such  person  as  struck  a  white  man  was  subject  to  a 
flogging  of  not  more  than  thirty  stripes.  In  171 7,  New 
London  voted  to  oppose  a  negro  "buying  land  in  town  or 
being  an  inhabitant, "  and  instructed  its  representatives 
to  the  legislature  to  ' '  take  some  prudent  care  that  no  person 
of  color  may  ever  have  any  personal  or  freehold  estate 
within  the  government,"  and  that  same  year  the  legislature 
passed  a  bill  prohibiting  negroes  "purchasing  land  without 
liberty  from  the  town,  and  also  from  being  in  families  of 
their  own  without  such  liberty."  When  the  Revolution 
came  on  it  was  found  convenient  to  allow  negroes  to  become 
food  for  bullets,  and,  in  1777,  an  act  passed  providing  that 
slaves  of  "good  life  and  conversation,"  when  adjudged  by 
the  selectmen  to  be  suitable  for  the  army,  were  to  be  put 


Slavery  159 

into  the  service,  and  many  slaves  went  to  war,  and  in 
the  stress  of  the  conflict  it  came  to  pass  that  "neither  the 
selectmen  nor  the  commanding  officers  questioned  the 
color;  white  and  black,  bond  and  free,  if  able-bodied,  went 
into  the  roll  together,  accepted  as  the  representatives  or  substi- 
tutes of  their  employers."  Many  slaves  were  promised  their 
freedom  on  condition  that  they  would  serve  three  years  in  the 
army,  and  many  displayed  superior  bravery  when  death  was 
near;  a  negro  named  Lambert  at  Fort  Griswold  in  1 781,  slew 
the  British  officer  who  so  savagely  murdered  Colonel  Ledyard 
and  fell,  "pierced  by  thirty-three  bayonet  wounds." 

We  read  of  balls  given  by  negroes,  and  they  were  allowed 
to  elect  a  governor  from  their  number,  and  to  inaugurate 
him  with  ceremonies  which  gratified  their  desire  for  display. 
They  chose  a  man  of  dignified  presence,  firmness,  and  ready 
tongue,  and  he  settled  disputes,  imposed  fines,  punished 
gross  and  immoral  conduct,  and  acted  as  supreme  arbiter 
among  his  people,  displaying  every  evidence  of  authority, 
even  to  a  claim  of  descent  from  a  line  of  African  kings, 
being  usually  reelected  until  health  failed.  On  inaugura- 
tion day  the  whole  black  population  turned  out  in  an 
"Election  Parade,"  in  which  borrowed  horses,  saddles,  and 
gay  trappings  made  a  brilliant  display,  and  fantastic  garbs, 
boisterous  shouting,  laughing,  and  singing,  with  fiddles, 
drums,  fifes,  and  brass  horns  filled  the  air  with  a  noise  which 
the  blacks  called  "martial  music." 

It  was  amusing  to  see  the  black  governor,  sham  dignity,  after 
his  election,  riding  through  the  town  on  one  of  his  master's 
horses,  adorned  with  plated  gear.  An  aide  rode  on  either  side, 
and  his  majesty,  puffing  and  swelling  with  pride,  sat  bolt  upright, 
moving  with  a  slow,  measured  pace,  as  though  the  universe  were 
looking  on.  When  he  mounted  or  dismounted,  an  aide  flew  to 
his  assistance,  holding  his  bridle,  putting  his  feet  into  the  stirrups, 
and  bowing  to  the  ground  before  him.  The  great  Mogul,  in  a 
triumphal  procession,  never  assumed  an  air  of  more  perfect 
self-importance  than  did  the  negro  governor  at  such  a  time. 


i6o  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

After  the  parade  there  was  a  feast,  which  often  ended  with 
a  drunken  riot.  The  ceremonies  took  place  in  Hartford, 
until  1800,  when  they  were  removed  to  Derby.  The  early 
notices  sent  to  the  blacks  in  different  places  in  the  common- 
wealth read  "negro  men";  later  the  reading  was  "negro 
gentlemen";  but  the  grotesque  display,  the  ridiculous  antics, 
and  the  brass  horns  figured  just  the  same.  The  first  record 
of  a  black  governor  is  that  of  Governor  Cuff,  who  resigned 
in  1766,  in  favor  of  John  Anderson. 

The  coarse  and  brutal  side  of  this  slavery  is  suggested 
by  the  following  advertisement  which  appeared  in  the  New 
London  Gazette  in  October,  1766:  "To  be  sold,  a  strong 
and  healthy  negro  man,  29  years  of  age,  and  brought  up  in 
the  country  to  the  farming  business.  Also  an  able-body'd 
wench,  16  years  old  (with  sucking  child),  can  do  all  sorts  of 
housework  .  .  .  for  no  other  fault  but  her  breeding.  En- 
quire of  printer."  As  the  consciences  of  the  people  became 
more  alert  to  evils  in  the  social  conditions,  slavery  came  in 
for  its  share  of  criticism,  and  for  many  years  there  was  an 
increasing  sentiment  against  it,  and  a  movement  toward  its 
downfall.  Sermons  were  preached  against  it  before  the 
Revolution,  and  SarnueL  Hopkins  wrote  a  dialogue  on  the 
duty  of  freeing  slaves.  Jonathan  Edwards,  Jr.,  proclaimed 
the  "Injustice  and  Impolicy  of  the  Slave  Trade,"  and, 
aside  from  the  injustice  of  the  practice  urged  in  pulpit  and 
by  pamphlets,  there  was  another  reason  for  its  passing  away ; 
it  was  an  economic  failure,  and  the  shrewd  Yankees,  finding 
that  it  did  not  pay,  started  the  entering  wedge  in  1774,  in  a 
measure  against  the  importation  of  more  negroes  for  slavery. 
In  the  preamble  of  that  law,  there  is  no  claim  to  morality, 
justice,  or  humanity;  the  reasoning  is  wholly  economic.  It 
reads,  "Whereas,  the  increase  of  slaves  in  this  Colony  is  in- 
jurious to  the  poor,  and  inconvenient, "  it  was  enacted  that 
"no  Indian  or  molatto  slave  shall  at  any  time  hereafter  be 
brought  or  imported  into  this  Colony,  by  sea  or  land  from 
any  place  whatsoever,  to  be  disposed  of  left  or  sold  within  this 


Slavery  i6i 

Colony."  The  penalty  was  one  hundred  pounds.  Business  de- 
pression and  scarcity  of  labor  for  many  of  the  white  people  led 
to  the  conviction  that,  on  the  whole,  slavery  would  better  be 
given  up.  A  more  radical  measure  was  passed  in  1 784,  which 
provided  that  no  negro  or  mulatto  child,  born  after  March 
I,  1784,  should  be  "held  in  servitude  beyond  the  age  of 
twenty-five,"  and  in  1797  it  was  ordered  that  negro  or 
mulatto  children  bom  after  August  i ,  of  that  year  should  be 
released  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  In  1788,  the  General 
Association  of  Congregational  ministers  declared  the  slave 
trade  to  be  unjust,  and  that  every  justifiable  measure 
ought  to  be  taken  to  suppress  it.  At  the  next  session  of 
the  legislature,  Connecticut  shippers  were  prohibited  from 
engaging  in  the  slave  trade  anywhere.  In  1848,  an  act  was 
passed  to  emancipate  all  slaves,  placing  upon  masters  or  the 
towns  responsibility  for  any  in  need,  and  there  were  but  six 
slaves  in  the  state  at  that  time. 

There  was  little  disposition  to  encourage  the  negroes  who 
were  coming  out  of  slavery,  and  in  1831,  the  free  negroes 
of  the  United  States,  wishing  to  establish  a  college  for  their 
young  men,  with  a  mechanical  department,  decided  that 
New  Haven  was  a  good  place  for  the  school,  because  of  the 
scholarly  atmosphere  and  because  of  the  opportunities 
offered  in  the  state  for  mechanical  training.  The  announce- 
ment of  the  plan  met  a  storm  of  opposition ;  the  city  officials 
and  the  voters  denounced  it  in  a  public  meeting,  did 
their  best  to  defeat  it,  and  their  action  was  fatal  to  it.  There 
was  a  still  more  famous  effort  to  start  a  school  for  negro 
girls  in  Connecticut,  an  enterprise  which  Henry  Wilson 
in  his  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  places  in  the  same 
class  with  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin — the  endeavor  of  a  young 
Quakeress,  Prudence  Crandall,  to  change  her  school  of  white 
pupils  to  one  of  negroes.  Before  taking  the  step.  Miss  Cran- 
dall consulted  with  leading  abolitionists  in  Boston  and  New 
York,  and  soon  annoimced  to  her  pupils  that  they  were  to 
give  place  to  "young  ladies  and  little  misses  of  color."     A 


l62  i\  History  of  Connecticxit 

committee  waited  upon  Miss  Crandall  to  protest;  a  public 
meeting  was  held  and  another  protest  made  to  the  deter- 
mined teacher.  Another  stormy  crowd  gathered  in  the  meet- 
ing-house and  passed  a  resolution  that  "the  locality  of  a  said 
school  for  the  people  of  color  at  any  place  within  the  limits 
of  the  town  .  .  .  meets  with  our  unqualified  disapprobation." 
Five  days  later,  the  town  officers  presented  the  resolution,  and 
there  were  those  who  urged  Miss  Crandall  to  take  the  price 
she  had  given  for  the  house,  but  she  refused,  though  she 
said  she  was  willing  to  move  to  another  part  of  the  town. 
The  school  opened  on  the  first  Monday  in  April,  1833,  with 
a  dozen  or  so  of  quiet  little  colored  girls  from  the  finest  negro 
families  in  the  northern  cities,  and  trouble  began.  As  there 
was  no  law  to  meet  the  case  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
draw  one  and  present  it  at  the  Assembly,  and  while  waiting 
for  the  law  boycott  was  tried;  stones  were  thrown  against 
the  schoolhouse  by  day  and  by  night.  When  the  case  came 
before  the  legislature,  the  sentiment  of  every  town  in  the 
state  was:  "We  should  not  want  a  nigger  on  our  common." 
The  statute  was  enacted  that  "no  person  should  set 
up  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  colored  persons  .  .  . 
without  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  civil  authority  and 
selectmen  in  the  town,  under  penalty  of  one  hundred  dollars 
for  the  first  offence,  and  a  double  for  every  succeeding  of- 
fence." Canterbury  received  the  news  of  the  passage  of  this 
law  with  firing  of  cannon,  bonfires,  and  ringing  of  bells. 
In  June,  Miss  Crandall  was  summoned  before  the  Justice 
Court,  and  bound  over  to  the  Superior  Court.  Though  the 
bail  was  moderate,  no  friend  appeared  as  her  bondsman, 
and  the  young  lady  went  to  jail  for  a  night,  which  tended 
to  make  her  a  martyr;  and  reports  of  unjust  imprisonment 
had  great  influence  in  creating  sentiment  in  her  favor. 
There  was  much  litigation,  and  at  length  the  people 
became  impatient,  and  in  September,  1834,  i^st  a  year  and 
a  half  after  the  school  started,  late  one  evening  some  men 
gathered  about  the  building  with  axes  and  iron  bars,  and  on  a 


Slavery  163 

signal  dashed  in  the  windows,  and  even  Miss  Crandall 
quailed  before  such  ruffianism.  The  next  day  the  pupils 
were  told  that  the  school  must  be  given  up,  and  the  teacher 
left  town.  Fifty  years  afterward,  the  legislature  voted  her  a 
pension  of  four  hundred  dollars. 

We  cannot  understand  how  these  events  could  take 
place  in  the  nineteenth  century  in  civilized  communities. 
We  can  discuss  them  with  calmness  only  as  we  remember  the 
extreme  jealousy  of  the  towns  over  their  rights,  and  the 
stem  way  the  citizens  had  of  asserting  them.  The  change 
of  sentiment  concerning  slavery  came  slowly,  but  at  length 
it  was  seen  that  the  practice,  as  Roger  Sherman  said  at  the 
constitutional  convention,  was  iniquitous,  a  conviction  to 
which  the  people  came  after  they  had  learned  that  there  was 
no  money  in  it. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CONNECTICUT  STRUGGLES  FOR  HERSELF  AND 
NEIGHBORS 

IN  establishing  a  commonwealth  in  a  rude  age,  amid  trying 
neighbors,  when  disagreeableness  was  not  all  on  one  side, 
when  everybody  wanted  his  rights,  if  not  a  little  more,  when 
boundaries  north,  east,  and  west  were  vague,  when  the  terrors 
of  a  French  and  Indian  war  were  scarcely  more  feared  than 
British  imperialism,  Connecticut  had  a  stern  training. 
It  was  a  long  game,  requiring  shrewd  calculation,  quick 
thinking,  sharp  wits,  steady  nerves,  strong  wills,  and  patient 
waiting.  Connecticut  people  could  not  endure  interference 
of  the  British  government,  and  the  English  kings  found  their 
settlers  here  hard  to  get  along  with.  This  colony  thought 
Massachusetts  and  New  York  too  grasping,  and  had  it  not 
been  for  the  interference  of  the  crown,  Rhode  Island  would 
have  been  entirely  swallowed  up  by  her  neighbors  on  north 
and  west.  The  story  may  as  well  open  with  an  event  which 
occasioned  much  solicitude — the  coming  of  the  Regicides. 

The  death  of  Cromwell  and  the  crowning  of  Charles  II. 
unsettled  affairs  in  New  England,  and  when  the  regicide 
judges,  who  had  signed  the  death-warrant  of  Charles  I., 
arrived  in  Boston  in  the  summer  of  1 660,  there  was  much 
anxiety.  They  were  Major-General  Edward  Whalley,  a 
cousin  of  Cromwell,  Major-General  William  Goffe,  and 
Colonel  John  Dixwell,  and  they  were  among  the  seven  judges 
who   by  the   "Act  of  Indemnity"   were  refused  pardon. 

164 


Struggles  for  Self  and  NeigHbors  165 

After  the  coronation  of  Charles  II.,  a  warrant  was  issued  for 
their  arrest,  and  hastily  escaping  from  Cambridge,  they  went 
to  New  Haven,  where  they  were  concealed  in  the  house  of 
John  Davenport,  who  in  a  notable  sermon  had  prepared  the 
people  to  shelter  the  men.  After  more  than  a  month  with 
Davenport  the  "Colonels"  went  to  Governor  Eaton's  house. 
On  May  1 1 ,  two  zealous  loyalists  appeared  at  Guilford  at  the 
house  of  Governor  Leete,  bearing  a  mandate  from  the  king 
to  arrest  the  men.  The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and,  by 
one  hindrance  and  another,  the  pursuers  were  detained  till 
Monday  morning,  when  they  started  for  New  Haven  with  a 
letter  to  the  magistrate,  advising  him  to  cause  a  search  to  be 
made.  Early  as  they  started,  some  one  else  left  Guilford 
before  them  in  the  night,  and  when  the  two  officers  of  the 
king  reached  the  city,  the  magistrate  was  not  at  home ;  but 
on  the  arrival  of  the  governor  two  hours  later  with  the  magis- 
trate of  Branford,  a  long  consultation  was  held  in  the  court- 
room. The  pursuers  insisted  that  the  regicides  were  hid  in 
some  of  the  houses  in  the  town  and  that  all  their  information 
pointed  to  the  houses  of  Davenport  and  Jones;  and  they 
demanded  of  the  governor  a  warrant  to  search  for  them. 
The  governor  and  magistrates  maintained  that  the  Colonels 
had  gone  toward  Manhadoes,  and  that  they  did  not  know 
the  place  of  their  concealment.  As  for  the  warrant  which 
was  demanded,  they  had  constitutional  and  legal  scruples, 
for  Governor  Leete  was  a  trained  lawyer.  The  governor 
told  the  pursuers  that  he  could  not  and  would  not  make  them 
magistrates  of  his  jurisdiction,  as  he  should  do  if  he  should 
invest  them  with  power  to  enter  men's  houses  and  search  for 
criminals.  Besides,  the  king's  mandate  appeared  to  be 
addressed  to  the  governor  of  Massachusetts  as  if  he  were 
governor  of  all  New  England,  and  to  others  only  as  subordin- 
ate to  him;  and  the  magistrates  feared  that,  by  acting  under 
such  a  mandate,  they  might  acknowledge  a  governor- 
general,  and  might  thus  betray  their  trust  to  the  people. 
When  the  pursuers  asked  if  they  would  obey  the  king  in  the 


i66  j\  History  of  Connecticxit 

matter,  the  governor  replied,  "We  honor  his  Majesty,  but  we 
have  tender  consciences."  The  pursuers  made  as  thorough 
a  search  as  they  dared  under  the  circimistances,  and  a  few 
days  later  returned  to  Boston.  Meanwhile,  the  himted 
men  were  in  various  places,  spending  many  weeks  in  a  cave 
on  West  Rock,  while  the  colony  was  scoured  for  them,  and 
large  rewards  were  offered  for  information  concerning  them. 
August  19,  they  obtained  a  lodging-place  in  Milford,  where 
they  were  hid  for  a  few  years.  In  October,  1664,  they  went 
to  Hadley,  Massachusetts,  where  the  minister,  Rev.  John 
Russell,  concealed  them  the  rest  of  their  days. 

Connecticut  was  prompt  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of 
Charles  II.,  and  John  Winthrop,  Jr.  was  sent  to  the  English 
court  to  secure  a  charter ;  being  a  man  of  high  standing  and 
eminent  scholarship,  he  easily  secured  influential  friends  at 
the  court,  and  it  is  said  that  he  had  a  valuable  ring  which 
had  been  given  by  Charles  II.  to  his  grandfather,  which  he 
presented  to  the  king.  Whatever  the  influences,  in  a  season 
of  good  feeling,  on  April  23,  1662,  Charles  II.  gave  a  patent, 
which  conferred  the  most  ample  privileges  and  confirmed  all 
lands  which  had  been  previously  given  according  to  the 
alleged  grant  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  to  the  freemen  of  the 
Connecticut  colony,  and  such  as  should  be  admitted  as  free- 
men.    The  territory  given  was, 

all  the  Part  of  Our  Dominions  in  New  England  in  America, 
bounded  on  the  East  by  Narragansett-River,  commonly  called 
Narragansett-Bay,  where  the  said  river  falleth  into  the  Sea;  and 
on  the  North  by  the  Line  of  the  Massachusetts- Plantation;  and 
on  the  South  by  the  Sea;  and  in  Longitude  as  the  Line  of  the 
Massachusetts-Colony,  running  from  East  to  West,  That  is  to 
say,  From  the  said  Narragansett-Bay  on  the  East,  to  the  South 
Sea  on  the  West  Part,  with  the  Islands  thereunto  adjoining, 
together  with  all  firm  Lands,  Soils,  Grounds,  Havens,  Ports, 
Rivers,  Waters,  Fishings,  Mines,  Minerals,  precious  Stones, 
Quarries,  and  all  and  singular  other  Commodities,  Jurisdictions, 
Royalties,  Privileges,  Franchises,  Preheminences  and  Heredita- 


Stru^^les  for  Self  and  Nei^Kbors  167 

ments  whatsoever  within  the  said  tract,  [on  condition  of  paying] 
to  Us,  Our  Heirs  and  Successors,  only  the  fifth  part  of  all  the  Ore 
of  Gold  and  Silver  which  from  Time  to  Time,  and  at  all  Times 
hereafter  shall  be  gotten,  had  or  obtained,  in  lieu  of  all  Services, 
Duties  and  Demands  whatsoever. 

The  form  of  government  which  was  established  by  this 
charter  was  the  most  popular  possible  and  continued  to  be 
the  fimdamental  law  of  Connecticut  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty-six  years.  Although  it  was  granted  at  a  time  when  the 
rights  of  the  people  were  slightly  understood  and  little  re- 
garded, and  by  a  sovereign  who  ruled  England  with  arbitrary 
sway,  the  form  of  government  established  by  the  charter  was 
of  a  more  popular  description,  and  placed  all  power  within 
the  more  immediate  reach  of  the  people,  than  the  constitution 
for  which  it  was  deliberately  exchanged  a  century  and  a  half 
later,  at  a  time  of  republican  freedom.  The  charter  granted 
that  the  colony  under  John  Winthrop  and  his  successors 
should  have  power  through  its 

Assistants  and  Freemen  of  the  said  Company,  or  such  of  them 
(not  exceeding  Two  Persons  from  each  Place,  Town  or  City) 
to  consult  and  advise  in  and  about  the  Affairs  and  Business  of  the 
said  Company  .  .  .  and  Establish  all  manner  of  wholesome 
and  reasonable  Laws,  Statutes,  Ordinances  and  Directions  and 
Instructions,  not  contrary  to  the  Laws  of  this  Realm  of  England. 

The  joy  of  the  colonists  on  the  Connecticut  on  receiving 
this  charter  was  unbounded,  and  that  of  the  New  Haven 
settlers  lessened  by  the  fact  that  they  were  cast  in  with  the 
older  colony.  After  the  death  of  Charles  IL,  James  II.  pro- 
ceeded to  carry  out  the  plan  of  uniting  a  number  of  scattered 
plantations,  circled  by  Indians  and  jealous,  meddlesome 
Dutch,  into  a  strong  colony  under  an  efficient  commander. 
The  idea  was  neither  unreasonable  nor  unphilanthropic,  for 
with  all  his  faults,  James  II.  had  a  strong  sentiment  of  English 
nationality,  and  the  bringing  of  the  northern  provinces  imder 


l68  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

one  head  he  hoped  might  unite  New  England  in  defense 
of  the  frontier.  The  idea  did  not  appeal  to  the  colonies, 
and  though  they  knew  that  the  soil  of  North  America  had 
been  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  crown,  like  the  castle  at 
Windsor,  they  were  dismayed  when,  in  the  spring  of  1686, 
Sir  Edmund  Andros  arrived  in  Boston,  in  the  frigate  King- 
fisher, glittering  in  scarlet  and  lace,  with  a  guard  of  British 
soldiers,  to  become  captain-general  and  govemor-in-chief 
of  New  England.  Moreover  he  was  to  have  associated  with 
him  a  council,  whose  first  members  were  to  be  royal  ap- 
pointees. The  governor  and  council  were  to  make  laws 
which  were  to  conform  to  those  of  England  and  to  be  sent 
over  to  receive  the  sanction  of  the  king.  The  oath  of  alle- 
giance was  to  be  required  of  all  persons.  The  governor  had 
authority  to  regulate  the  currency,  to  command  the  mil- 
itary and  naval  forces,  and  with  the  council  to  levy  taxes 
for  the  support  of  the  government. 

The  way  for  Andros  had  been  prepared  by  a  quo  warranto 
issued  by  the  king  in  the  summer  of  1685,  citing  the  governor 
and  company  of  Connecticut  to  appear  before  the  king  to 
show  by  what  right  they  exercised  certain  powers  and  privi- 
leges. Connecticut  was  charged  with  making  laws  contrary 
to  those  of  England;  imposing  fines  on  its  inhabitants; 
enforcing  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  itself,  and  not  the  oaths  of 
supremacy  and  allegiance;  prohibiting  the  worship  of  the 
Church  of  England;  refusing  justice  in  its  courts;  excluding 
men  of  loyalty  from  its  government,  and  keeping  the 
reins  in  the  hands  of  the  Independents.  The  writs  were 
not  served  within  the  dates  returnable,  and  when  Randolph 
appeared  in  Boston  in  the  spring  of  1686,  he  sent  a  letter  to 
the  officials  of  Connecticut,  and  neglected  to  tell  them  that 
the  writs  had  run  out,  but  he  did  tell  them  that  there  was 
nothing  left  for  them  to  do  but  to  resign  their  charter  at 
once  humbly  and  obediently,  since  if  they  undertook  to 
defend  it  at  law,  they  would  have  all  western  Connecticut 
annexed  to  New  York  at  once,  besides  other  possible  disasters. 


Edmund  Andros,  1637-1714,  Royal  Governor  of  New  England  from 
November  i,  1687,  to  May  9,  1689 

From  the  Engraving  by  E.  G.  Williams 


Str\ag'^les  for  Self  and  Nei^Hbors  169 

He  advised  them  to  visit  him  at  Boston,  rather  than  have 
him  go  to  them,  "as  a  herald  to  denounce  war."  He  said 
they  need  not  think  that  they  would  gain  any  advantage  "by 
spinning  out  time  by  delay, "  as  the  writs  would  keep  as  fresh 
as  when  landed.  The  shrewd  Connecticut  Yankees  had 
lived  too  strenuous  a  life  to  be  overwhelmed  by  these  threats, 
and  knowing  about  the  writs,  they  had  divided  the  unap- 
propriated lands  among  the  towns  to  keep  them  from  the 
king's  messengers,  Hartford  and  Windsor  obtaining  most  of 
Litchfield  County.  The  magistrates  held  a  special  session, 
and  decided  upon  an  address  to  the  king,  entreating  him  to 
suspend  his  proceedings  against  their  charter;  and  on  July 
20,  Randolph  appeared  at  Hartford  and  served  his  stem 
writs,  calling  John  Allyn  and  John  Talcott,  keepers  of  the 
charter,  out  of  bed  at  midnight  to  impress  them  with  the 
danger  of  delay.  Meanwhile  Dudley,  president  of  the  coun- 
cil at  Boston,  had  written  a  letter  urging  annexation  to 
Massachusetts  rather  than  to  New  York.  It  was  a  time  of 
decided  anxiety  for  the  Connecticut  leaders;  the  official 
heads.  Treat,  Allyn,  Fitz  John  Winthrop  and  others,  favored 
the  surrender  of  the  charter,  for  fear  that  the  king  might  be 
provoked  to  make  good  Randolph's  threat,  and  partition  the 
colony  among  its  neighbors ;  others  were  determined  to  give 
away  nothing  until  compelled  to  do  so.  The  majority  of  the 
people  in  the  colony  were  against  the  siirrender,  and  em- 
ployed William  Whiting,  a  London  merchant,  son  of  an  old 
Hartford  resident,  to  represent  the  colony,  with  power  to 
submit  to  the  king  if  compelled,  but  to  employ  counsel  to 
defend  the  cases,  and  urge  separate  existence  and  not 
partition. 

A  new  writ  was  issued  October  6,  1686,  and  forwarded  by 
Sir  Edmund  Andros,  who,  two  days  after  he  landed,  sent  an 
express  messenger  to  Governor  Treat,  empowered  to  receive 
the  charter ;  Randolph  sent  a  letter  by  the  same  man  insist- 
ing that  the  officials  should  comply  without  delay.  The 
governor  called  together  the  General  Assembly,  which  voted 


170  A  History  of  Connectic\it 

to  leave  the  matter  to  the  governor  and  council.  It  was  a 
trying  situation,  since  the  king  was  evidently  determined  to 
carry  out  his  purpose,  and  he  was  not  a  man  to  be  thwarted 
by  the  opposition  of  a  handful  of  colonists  on  the  Connecticut. 
Fifty  corporations  in  England  had  been  deprived  of  their 
charters;  the  city  of  London  had  stood  trial  with  him  and 
had  given  up  its  charter;  the  charter  of  Massachusetts  had 
been  vacated,  and  Rhode  Island  had  submitted  to  the  king. 
The  Connecticut  officials  were  quite  the  match  for  the  resolute 
Andros  and  Randolph ;  writing  a  diplomatic  letter,  they  said 
that  they  were  satisfied  to  remain  as  they  were,  if  the  king 
were  willing,  but  they  must  submit  to  his  will,  and  if  he  chose 
to  join  them  to  the  Massachusetts  government  as  a  separate 
province  they  would  like  it  better  than  annexation  to  any 
other.  This  masterly  letter,  yielding  much  on  the  face  and 
nothing  in  law,  had  the  effect  desired,  though  hardly  ex- 
pected, by  its  authors;  the  government  accepted  it  as  a  legal 
siurender  of  their  rights  into  the  hands  of  the  king,  who 
dropped  the  proceedings  in  the  writ,  and  wrote  Andros  to 
assume  the  power  to  which  the  colony  had  agreed. 

The  Assembly  met  as  usual  in  October,  1687,  and  the 
government  continued  according  to  charter  until  the  last  of 
the  month,  when  Sir  Edmimd  Andros,  with  his  suite,  and 
more  than  sixty  regular  troops  reached  Hartford,  when  the 
Assembly  was  sitting,  demanded  the  charter,  and  declared 
the  government  under  it  dissolved.  The  Assembly  was 
extremely  reluctant  to  make  the  surrender:  the  tradition  is 
that  Governor  Treat  dwelt  upon  the  expense  and  hardships 
of  the  colonists  in  planting  and  defending  the  country,  and 
declared  that  it  was  like  giving  up  his  life  to  yield.  The 
affair  was  debated  and  kept  in  suspense  until  evening, 
when  the  charter  was  brought  in  and  laid  upon  the  table 
before  Sir  Edmund.  Suddenly  the  lights  were  extin- 
guished; the  charter  was  passed  out  of  the  room,  and  Cap- 
tain Joseph  Wadsworth  carried  it  away  and  hid  it  in  a  large 
oak,  fronting  the  house  of  Samuel  Wyllys,  one  of  the  magis- 


Stru^^les  for  Self  and  NeigKbors  171 

trates.  The  people  appeared  orderly,  the  candles  were 
relighted,  but  the  patent  could  nowhere  be  found.  It  did 
not  remain  long  in  the  oak,  but  was  soon  carried  to  Wads- 
worth's  house  and  possibly  to  Andrew  Leete's  in  Guilford. 
The  colony  was  forced  to  submit  for  the  time,  and  the  next 
day,  the  secretary,  John  Allyn,  wrote  "Finis"  on  the  colonial 
records,  and  closed  the  book.  Sir  Edmund  began  his 
government  with  flattering  professions  of  friendliness  and 
devotion  to  the  public  interests,  but  he  soon  placed  vexatious 
and  burdensome  requirements  upon  the  colony.  Restraint 
was  laid  upon  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  Dudley  was 
appointed  censor ;  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  suspended ; 
fees  of  all  officers  were  enormous:  the  common  fee  for  the 
probate  of  a  will  was  fifty  shillings;  colonial  records  were 
removed  to  Boston,  requiring  a  long  and  expensive  journey 
to  enable  one  to  consult  them.  Marriages  could  be  per- 
formed only  by  magistrates.  No  land  was  to  be  purchased 
from  the  Indians  except  under  license  of  the  governor  with  a 
round  fee.  Sir  Edmund  said  that  Indian  deeds  were  no 
better  than  the  "scratch  of  a  bear's  paw."  People  who  had 
been  living  for  fifty  years  on  their  farms,  and  had  gardens 
and  orchards,  had  no  clear  title,  except  as  they  took  out 
patents  from  the  government  of  Sir  Edmund,  sometimes  at 
an  expense  of  fifty  pounds.  Writs  were  served  against 
prominent  men  who  would  not  submit  to  such  impositions, 
and  their  lands  were  patented  to  others.  All  town  meetings 
were  prohibited,  except  one  in  the  month  of  May,  for  the 
election  of  town  officers.  This  was  to  prevent  consultations 
for  redress  of  grievances.  It  was  a  most  rankling  and 
humiliating  imposition  to  men  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
self-government,  but  the  thorough  Andros  rode  rough-shod 
over  the  people,  carrying  out  the  resolute  purposes  of  King 
James.  Randolph  was  not  ashamed  to  make  his  boast  in 
his  letters,  in  respect  to  Governor  Andros  and  his  council, 
"that  they  were  as  arbitrary  as  the  great  Turk. " 

Governor  Treat  was  a  father  to  the  people  in  their  de- 


172  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

spondency,  and  in  the  general  depression  in  business  and  social 
life;  and  the  joy  was  great  when  word  came  in  April,  1689, 
that  James  II.  had  fled  to  France,  and  William  and  Mary 
had  been  enthroned.  The  officials  brought  the  charter  from 
its  shelter,  called  town  delegates  together,  and  the  old  gov- 
ernment resumed  its  functions.  In  1 693,  Fitz  John  Winthrop 
was  sent  to  England  to  obtain  a  confirmation  of  the  charter 
and  was  assured  by  the  best  lawyers  of  the  crown  that  the 
charter  was  entirely  valid.  The  basis  of  the  opinion  was 
that  it  had  been  granted  under  the  great  seal;  that  it  had 
not  been  surrendered  under  the  common  seal  of  the  colony, 
nor  had  any  judgment  of  record  been  entered  against  it; 
that  its  operation  had  merely  been  interfered  with  by  over- 
powering force ;  that  the  peaceable  submission  to  Andros  was 
merely  an  illegal  suspension  of  lawful  authority.  William 
was  willing  to  secure  the  fruits  of  James's  plan  of  controlling 
the  colonies,  as  he  showed  by  enforcing  the  forfeiture  of  the 
Massachusetts  charter;  but  the  law  in  the  case  of  Connecti- 
cut was  too  plain,  and  he  ratified  the  lawyers'  opinion  in 
April,  1694. 

It  is  not  possible  to  imagine  how  the  colony  could  have 
conducted  the  affair  of  the  charter  with  greater  wisdom.  The 
passive  attitude  of  the  government  had  disarmed  Andros  so 
far  as  to  cause  legal  proceedings  necessary  to  forfeit  it  to 
cease,  and  prompt  action  at  the  right  time  brought  it  again 
into  force,  after  the  Andros  sway  had  been  endured  for  a 
little  more  than  two  years.  Having  resumed  her  govern- 
ment, which  she  had  enjoyed  for  fifty  years,  a  government 
prized  all  the  more  because  of  the  exactions  and  requirements 
of  the  Andros  rule,  Connecticut  took  in  hand  the  settlement 
of  the  boimdaries,  which  was  a  longer  and  more  trying  experi- 
ence, for  the  colony  was  dealing  with  men  in  New  York, 
Massachusetts,  and  Rhode  Island  who  were  as  intelligent, 
aggressive,  and  tenacious  in  their  insistence  upon  acquiring 
the  last  square  inch  of  land  as  was  Connecticut  herself. 

The  boimdary  dispute  between  Connecticut  and  New 


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Stru^^les  for  Self  and  NeigHbors  I73 

York  was  serious  and  bitter.  Soon  after  the  royal  charter 
was  given  to  Connecticut,  the  king  gave  his  brother  James, 
Duke  of  York  (March  12,  1664),  a  patent  of  an  extensive 
tract,  which  included  "all  that  island  or  islands  commonly 
called  Long  Island  .  .  .  and  all  the  land  from  the  west 
side  of  the  Connecticut  river  to  the  east  side  of  Delaware 
Bay."  Colonel  Richard  Nicolls  sailed  across  the  Atlantic 
and  surprised  the  Dutch;  New  Amsterdam  surrendered 
August  27,  1664,  and  was  at  once  named  New  York.  On 
October  13,  Connecticut  sent  commissioners  to  New  York 
to  congratulate  the  commissioners  there  and  establish  a 
boundary.  In  the  agreement  it  was  declared  that  Long 
Island  belonged  to  New  York  and 

that  creek  or  river  called  Momoroneck,  which  is  reputed  to  be 
about  thirteen  miles  east  of  West  Chester,  and  a  line  drawn  from 
the  east  point  or  side  where  the  fresh  water  falls  into  the  salt  at 
high  water,  north-west  to  the  line  of  Massachusetts  be  the  western 
bounds  of  the  said  colony  of  Connecticut:  and  all  plantations 
lying  westward  of  that  creek  and  line  so  drawn  to  be  under  his 
Royal  Highness'  government,  and  all  the  plantations  lying  east- 
ward of  that  creek  and  line  to  be  under  the  government  of 
Connecticut. 

This  was  never  confirmed  by  the  crown,  and  New  York 
refused  to  abide  by  it.  The  line  crossed  the  Hudson  at 
Peekskill,  but  it  was  never  surveyed.  In  1672,  the  Dutch 
recaptured  the  province,  and  when  the  English  again  took 
possession  by  the  treaty  of  Westminster,  a  new  patent  was 
granted  the  Duke  of  York,  June  29,  1674,  like  the  former, 
and  he  seemed  disposed  to  execute  it  to  the  letter. 

Though  King  Philip's  war  was  in  progress,  the  govern- 
ment prepared  to  resist,  and  sent  troops  to  garrison  Say- 
brook  and  New  London.  Captain  Thomas  Bull  was  in 
command  at  Saybrook,  and  June  9,  1675,  he  saw  an  armed 
fleet  approaching  the  fort.  By  command  of  the  colonial 
authorities   Captain    Bull   told   Andros   that   the   English 


174  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

needed  no  help  against  Indian  foes.  On  the  morning  of 
July  12,  Andros  asked  leave  to  go  ashore  for  a  conference 
with  the  officers.  This  was  granted  and  he  landed  with  his 
suite.  Bull  met  Andros  on  shore  and  bluntly  told  him  that 
he  was  instructed  to  resist  the  invasion.  Bull  knew  the 
charter  of  the  Dudley  government  of  1664  had  named  the 
Connecticut  River  as  the  eastern  boimdary.  He  also  knew 
Connecticut  never  surrendered  anything  unless  compelled. 
Andros  bade  his  clerk  read  aloud  the  two  papers  which 
gave  him  his  authority,  and  Bull  told  the  clerk  to  forbear. 
The  latter  persisted,  and  the  captain  commanded  "For- 
bear!" in  a  tone  which  Andros  did  not  choose  to  resist. 
Admiring  the  coolness  of  the  Connecticut  officer,  Andros 
said,  "What  is  your  name?"  "My  name  is  Bull,  sir," 
was  the  answer.  "Bull!"  replied  the  governor.  "It  is  a 
pity  your  horns  were  not  tipped  with  silver. " 

This  game  of  bluff  worked  well,  and  matters  quieted  down 
for  a  while  until  the  discussion  of  the  boundary  was  opened 
afresh  in  1682,  and  New  York  claimed  twenty  miles  east  of 
the  Hudson,  on  the  ground  that  the  royal  commissioners  had 
said  that  the  Mamaroneck  River  was  "twenty  miles  every- 
where from  the  Hudson."  If  Connecticut  would  not  allow 
this,  New  York  threatened  that  she  would  claim  all  the 
territory  to  the  Connecticut  River.  Commissioners  of  the 
two  colonies  met  in  1683,  ^^^  came  to  an  agreement  that 
the  Byram  River,  between  Rye  and  Greenwich,  should  be 
the  western  boundary  of  Connecticut ;  or  from  Lyon's  Point 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Byram  River  up  the  stream  to  the  wading 
place,  thence  north  northwest  eight  English  miles,  thence 
east  twelve  miles  parallel  to  the  Sound,  and  thence  in  a  line 
parallel  to,  and  twenty  miles  distant  from,  the  Hudson  River. 
It  was  further  agreed  that  New  York  should  receive  from 
Connecticut  along  the  remainder  of  her  western  boundary 
as  much  as  Connecticut  took  from  New  York  at  Greenwich 
and  along  the  Sound.  This  deprived  Connecticut  of  Rye — • 
a  loss  severely  felt.     Connecticut  has  Greenwich,  Stamford, 


Strxj^^les  for  Self  and  Nei^KlDors  17^ 

Darien,  New  Canaan,  Norwalk,  and  a  part  of  Wilton  to  which 
New  York  yielded  all  claim.  In  return  New  York  received 
a  strip  one  and  three-quarters  miles  and  twenty  rods  wide 
along  the  west  side  of  Connecticut,  which  is  parallel  to  and 
twenty  miles  distant  from  the  Hudson  River.  This  was 
called  the  Oblong  or  Equivalent  Tract,  containing  61,440 
acres.  In  1855,  as  most  of  the  old  landmarks  had  been 
removed  or  destroyed,  it  became  necessary  to  establish  the 
boundary  lines,  and  there  was  a  special  reason  for  this  in  the 
fact  that  people  along  the  line  had  evaded  paying  taxes  to 
either  state.  The  commissioners  established  the  boundary 
to  the  last  angle,  but  on  that  to  the  Massachusetts  line 
there  was  a  difference  of  opinion.  New  York  wished  to  find 
the  old  and  traditional  Hne,  and  Connecticut  desired  to  sur- 
vey a  new  line.  A  line  was  run,  but  it  differed  from  the 
other  by  forty-two  rods  at  the  widest  part,  made  a  differ- 
ence of  twenty-six  thousand  acres,  and  New  York  refused 
to  yield.  The  matter  rested  until  1859,  when  new  com- 
missioners were  appointed,  who  made  a  new  survey,  and 
Connecticut  would  not  yield.  Then  New  York  empowered 
her  commissioners  to  survey  and  mark  with  monuments  a 
mile  apart  the  line  as  fixed  by  the  survey  of  1731,  but  Con- 
necticut would  not  agree  to  the  line  thus  marked.  In  1878, 
there  was  again  a  dispute  and  the  commissioners  came  to  a 
decision  December  5,  1879,  whereby  the  western  boimdary 
of  Connecticut  was  established  on  the  old  line  of  1731,  and 
the  twenty-six  thousand  acres  was  given  up  to  New  York. 
In  exchange  the  southern  boundary  was  carried  into  the 
Sound  six  hundred  feet  south  of  By  ram's  Point,  then  south- 
east three  and  a  half  miles,  then  northeast  to  a  point  four 
miles  south  of  New  London  lighthouse,  thence  through 
Fisher's  Island  Sound,  as  far  as  said  states  are  coterminous. 
This  was  ratified  by  the  states,  and  Congress  confirmed 
the  ratification  in  1880. 

It  consumed  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  to   settle 
the    northern    boundary.     In     1642,     Massachusetts   em- 


176  i\  History  of  Conxiecticxit 

ployed  two  "mathematicians,"  Woodward  and  Saffery, 
to  run  the  line  according  to  the  charter.  These  highly 
ingenious  men  began  operations  by  finding  a  point  "three 
English  miles  on  the  south  part  of  the  Charles  River,  or  of 
any  or  every  part  thereof"  from  which  to  survey  a  line 
toward  the  Pacific ;  preferring  a  boat  trip  to  a  tramp  through 
the  woods  among  wolves  and  Indians,  they  sailed  around 
Cape  Cod  and  up  the  Connecticut  River  to  a  point  which 
they  believed  to  be  of  the  same  latitude  as  at  the  starting- 
point.  They  erred  on  the  safe  side  for  their  employers  and 
gave  Massachusetts  a  strip  of  Connecticut  eight  miles  wide. 
There  was  no  end  of  dispute  over  this,  and  in  1695,  Con- 
necticut had  a  siirvey  made,  to  the  result  of  which  Massa- 
chusetts objected,  and  Connecticut  people  continued  to 
settle  in  Enfield  and  Suffield  on  disputed  lands.  Different 
sets  of  commissioners  went  over  the  question,  and  the  only 
reason  why  there  was  no  appeal  to  the  crown  was  the  heavy 
expense.  There  were  petitions  and  threats,  and  until  the 
Revolution,  Connecticut  continued  to  govern  Enfield,  Suffield, 
and  Woodstock,  while  Massachusetts  levied  taxes  without 
collecting;  sending  notices  of  fast  days  and  elections,  claim- 
ing as  late  as  1768,  that  she  had  not  given  up  jurisdiction; 
warning  the  towns  not  to  pay  taxes  to  Connecticut.  In 
1793,  both  states  appointed  commissioners  to  ascertain  the 
boundaries  of  Southwick  and  west  to  New  York,  also  east 
of  the  Connecticut  River.  They  reported  that  the  line 
was  nearly  all  correct,  except  a  tract  of  two  and  a  half  miles 
square  at  Southwick  which  Massachusetts  thought  that  she 
should  have  to  compensate  for  the  towns  she  had  lost. 
This  was  refused  by  Connecticut  in  180 1.  In  1803,  Massa- 
chusetts was  willing  to  compromise,  and  the  following  year 
it  was  arranged  that  Connecticut  should  keep  a  slice  of 
Southwick,  and  Massachusetts  hold  land  west  of  the  pond 
in  that  town, — the  same  indentation  into  Connecticut  re- 
mains to-day. 

The  eastern  boimdary  seemed  for  a  long  time  hopeless. 


Struggles  for  Self  and  Nei^Kbors  177 

Rufus  Choate  said  of  it  at  one  of  its  stages:  "The  com- 
missioners might  as  well  have  decided  that  the  line  between 
the  states  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  a  bramble  bush,  on 
the  south  by  a  blue  jay,  on  the  west  by  a  hive  of  bees  in 
swarming  time,  and  on  the  east  by  five  hundred  foxes  with 
firebrands  tied  to  their  tails."  Connecticut  claimed  all  the 
Narragansett  country  to  the  Bay  by  the  conquest  of  the 
Pequots ;  and  Massachusetts  on  the  ground  of  her  assistance 
to  Connecticut.  Both  regarded  Rhode  Island  as  a  nonentity. 
In  1658,  the  New  England  commissioners  assigned  the 
Mystic  River  as  the  boundary  between  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut,  giving  Rhode  Island  and  the  eastern  part  of 
Connecticut  to  Massachusetts.  The  Connecticut  charter 
in  1662,  carried  that  colony  to  the  Bay.  In  1663,  Rhode 
Island  secured,  through  its  agent  in  London,  a  charter 
which  assigned  the  Pawcatuck  River  from  mouth  to  source, 
and  thence  due  north  to  the  Massachusetts  boundary  as 
its  western  line.  Confusion  followed  with  proclamations, 
arrests,  and  bitter  controversies  until  1703,  when  commis- 
sioners were  again  appointed,  who  agreed  that  the  boundary 
should  be  the  middle  channel  of  the  Pawcatuck  River,  from 
salt  water  to  the  branch  called  Ashaway,  and  thence  in  a 
straight  line  north  to  the  Massachusetts  line,  through  a 
point  twenty  miles  due  west  of  the  extremity  of  Warwick 
Neck.  Contentions  followed  till  1727,  when  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil recommended  that  the  agreement  of  1703,  should  stand; 
and  except  for  a  slight  straightening  in  1840,  it  is  the  bound- 
ary between  the  states,  established  after  sixty-five  years  of 
quarreling.  It  was  fortunate  for  Rhode  Island  to  be  able 
to  appeal  to  England,  and  the  victory  was  just. 

Another  controversy  gave  the  colony  trouble  for  years, 
the  case  of  the  cession  in  1639,  by  the  Mohican  Indians  of 
New  London  County  and  parts  of  Windham  and  Tolland 
counties.  Uncas  deeded  this  tract,  the  famous  Norwich 
tract,  to  thirty-five  proprietors;  it  covered  nine  square 
miles,  and  in  1640,  a  deed  was  drawn  between  Uncas  and  the 


178  A  History  of  Connecticut 

colony.  The  deed  is  ambiguous,  but  it  states  that  Uncas 
parted  with  his  whole  country,  except  the  planting  ground, 
for  five  yards  of  cloth  and  a  few  pairs  of  stockings.  This 
was  done  with  the  consent  of  Major  John  Mason,  the  chief 
adviser  of  the  Mohicans. 

Other  sales  and  grants  were  made  by  Uncas  and  other 
Mohicans  until,  in  1680,  of  the  eight  hundred  square  miles, 
the  extent  of  the  original  Mohican  country,  only  a  small 
portion  remained  in  possession  of  the  Indians.  The  Mason 
family  acted  as  trustees  of  the  Mohicans,  and  the  case  was 
in  litigation  for  almost  a  century.  The  decision  was  repeat- 
edly rendered,  supporting  the  colony  in  the  possession  of  the 
lands;  and  appeals  were  repeatedly  made  by  the  Mason 
family.  In  1743,  commissioners  from  New  York  and  New 
Jersey  confirmed  the  original  decision  sustaining  the  conten- 
tion of  Connecticut;  an  appeal  was  taken  to  the  king's 
Privy  Council,  which  decided  in  favor  of  the  colony.  The 
decision  was  reached  January  15,  1773,  when  the  Mason 
appeal  was  dismissed,  and  the  judgment  of  1743,  affirmed. 

Connecticut  was  not  only  under  a  strain  to  secure  her 
boundaries,  she  was  called  on  to  help  her  neighbors;  and 
when,  in  1669,  New  York  was  threatened  by  the  French  and 
Indians,  Governor  Leisler  wrote  to  her  neighbor  on  the  east, 
asking  for  troops.  Captain  Bull  led  a  contingent  to  Albany, 
another  force  went  to  New  York,  and  later,  Connecticut 
joined  the  rest  of  New  England  and  New  York  in  an  expedi- 
tion against  Canada,  which  proved  a  failure.  Another  call 
came  for  help  in  1693,  and  Governor  Treat  sent  a  body  of 
troops  to  the  defense  of  Albany.  It  was  about  that  time 
that  the  liberties  enjoyed  so  long  were  threatened  by  the 
arrival  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Fletcher,  the  new  governor  of 
New  York,  who  came  from  England  with  a  commission  to 
command  the  whole  militia  of  Connecticut  and  the  neighbor- 
ing provinces.  The  Assembly,  September  i,  1693,  voted 
that  Major-General  Fitz  John  Winthrop  intercede  with  the 
king,  and  William  Pitkin  was  sent  to  interview  Governor 


Stru^g'les  for  Self  and  NeigHbors  i79 

Fletcher;  the  latter  made  no  impression  on  the  martial 
governor.  On  October  26,  Fletcher  reached  Hartford  and 
demanded  the  surrender  of  the  militia,  and  ordered  that  it 
be  summoned  under  arms.  The  officers  called  the  train- 
bands together.  With  the  soldiers  before  the  Assembly 
House,  the  Assembly  insisted  that  Fletcher's  demands  were 
not  consistent  with  their  charter.  In  Fletcher's  name, 
Colonel  Bayard  sent  a  letter  to  the  Assembly  setting  forth 
the  object  of  the  visit:  not  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of 
the  province,  but  merely  for  the  recognition  of  the  king's 
abstract  right  to  control  the  military  force ;  and  he  tendered 
to  Governor  Treat  a  commission  in  Fletcher's  name  to 
command  the  militia.  He  said  also  that  he  would  issue  his 
proclamation  to  the  people,  and  would  then  be  able  to  dis- 
tinguish the  loyal  from  the  disloyal. 

The  train-bands  were  arranged  in  due  order,  Captain 
Wadsworth  was  walking  up  and  down  in  front  of  the  com- 
panies, when  Fletcher  approached  to  within  hearing  distance 
and  ordered  his  commission  and  instructions  to  be  read. 
The  moment  Bayard  began  to  read,  Captain  Wadsworth 
commanded  the  drums  to  beat,  drowning  the  voice  of  the 
herald.  "Silence!"  said  Fletcher,  in  a  tone  of  authority. 
When  the  beating  subsided  Bayard  again  began  to  read  the 
commission.  ''Drum,  I  say,  drum!''  said  Wadsworth,  and 
again  the  voice  was  lost  in  the  drum-beat.  "Silence, 
silence!"  shouted  the  New  York  governor.  "Drum,  drum, 
I  say!"  repeated  Wadsworth;  and  then  turning  to  Fletcher 
he  said,  "If  I  am  interrupted  again,  I  will  make  the  sun 
shine  through  you  in  a  moment!"  At  that  point,  Fletcher 
withdrew.  To  show  her  loyalty  under  the  charter,  the 
Assembly  voted  a  tax  of  a  penny  a  pound  to  raise  soldiers, 
and  fifty  bushels  of  wheat  from  every  county,  and  the 
amount  was  paid  Fletcher  for  defense  of  Albany.  Winthrop 
was  sent  to  England  to  make  a  full  statement  of  the  situa- 
tion to  the  king's  attorney  and  solicitor-general,  who  re- 
ported favorably  concerning  the  action  of  Connecticut,  and 


l8o  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

the  king  approved.  It  was  voted  to  place  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men  at  the  disposal  of  the  governor  of  New  York, 
and  that  the  remainder  be  under  the  direction  of  the  governor 
of  Connecticut.  In  1703,  Governor  Dudley  of  Massachu- 
setts called  for  troops  to  aid  in  the  war  with  the  Indians  on 
the  east,  and  four  hundred  troops  were  raised  to  resist  the 
Indians  on  the  north. 

There  was  a  long  struggle  to  retain  the  powers  granted  by 
the  charter  in  opposition  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  which  for 
forty  years  sought  to  carry  out  the  plan  of  a  union  of  the 
colonies.  Charges  were  made  against  Connecticut  of  piracy, 
contraband  trade,  and  other  crimes,  and  Gershom  Bulkley's 
"Will  and  Doom"  played  a  part  in  the  proceedings;  there 
were  also  complaints  of  the  treatment  of  the  Mohicans. 
Governor  Dudley  supported  the  movement,  and  was  seconded 
by  Governor  Cornbury  of  New  York.  Connecticut  was 
represented  by  Sir  Henry  Ashurst,  who  knowing  that  it  was 
a  struggle  for  cherished  privileges  of  the  colony,  secured  two 
of  the  best  advocates  in  England,  and  these  men  argued  the 
case  effectively,  insisting  that  a  copy  of  the  charges  should 
be  sent  to  the  governor  of  Connecticut,  with  a  request  for 
answers  to  each  allegation,  and  also  that  Dudley  and  Corn- 
bury  be  required  to  forward  proofs  in  legal  form.  In  due 
time  a  letter  arrived  from  Ashurst  telling  the  colony  that 
it  was  the  opinion  of  the  crown  that  the  colony  should  con- 
trol militia  and  money.  This  was  not  the  last  attempt  to 
weaken  the  force  of  the  charter,  and  a  good  deal  could 
be  said  from  the  imperialist  point  of  view,  for  the  attempt  to 
unite  the  colonies  to  the  crown  was  not  pure  tyranny  and 
maliciousness.  From  the  standpoint  of  Connecticut  the  issue 
was  a  happy  one,  and  though  the  colony  entered  the  eight- 
eenth century  burdened  with  debts  incurred  in  the  struggles 
for  herself  and  her  neighbors,  the  debts  were  of  slight  mo- 
ment in  comparison  with  the  institutions  and  discipline  which 
sixty  years  of  alertness,  resoluteness,  and  poise  had  developed. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
THE  UNITED  COLONIES  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

WHILE  the  colonies  of  New  England  were  all  animated  by 
a  spirit  of  extreme  independence,  which  often  found 
expression  in  jealousy  verging  sometimes  almost  on  hostility, 
there  was  a  time  when  it  seemed  wise  to  form  a  confederacy. 
The  nearness  and  hostility  of  the  Dutch  settlements,  ner- 
vousness about  the  action  of  the  mother- country,  and  the 
fear  of  the  Indians  brought  about  a  league  of  the  four  colo- 
nies of  Massachusetts  Bay,  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and 
New  Haven.  There  was  a  popiilation  of  twenty-three 
thousand  five  hundred  souls,  of  which  number  Massachu- 
setts had  fifteen  thousand,  Plymouth  and  Connecticut  three 
thousand  each,  and  New  Haven  two  thousand  five  himdred. 
There  were  several  reasons  why  it  seemed  best  to  form  the 
confederation,  for  despite  the  growth,  energy,  and  optimism 
of  the  settlements,  their  condition  was  precarious  for  years. 
The  Pequots  had  been  swept  away,  but  the  colonists  were 
surrounded  by  undesirable  neighbors:  Mohawks  were 
not  distant,  Dutch  were  meddlesome,  and  Narragansetts 
powerful.  In  August,  1637,  during  the  war  with  the  Pe- 
quots, some  of  the  Connecticut  leaders  suggested  to  the 
authorities  at  Boston  the  expediency  of  a  form  of  union, 
and  the  next  year  Massachusetts  submitted  a  plan,  but 
Connecticut  objected,  because  it  permitted  a  mere  majority 
of  the  federal  commissioners  to  decide  questions.  In  1639, 
Hooker  and  Haynes  went  to  Boston  and  discussed  the  pro- 

181 


i82  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

posal,  but  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  disagreed  over  the 
boundary  Hne,  and  the  needed  covenant  was  postponed.  At 
a  General  Court  held  at  Boston,  September  27, 1642,  letters 
from  Connecticut  were  read,  "certifying  us  that  the  Indians 
all  over  the  country  had  combined  themselves  to  cut  off 
all  the  English."  Anxieties  also  arose  from  the  Dutch 
at  that  time,  hence  the  Connecticut  proposal  was  favorably 
received,  and  was  referred  to  a  committee  to  consider  it. 
At  the  next  General  Court  at  Boston,  May  10,  1643,  a  com- 
pact of  confederation,  drawn  up  in  writing,  was  signed  by 
commissioners  from  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
and  New  Haven,  The  settlements  of  Gorges  and  Mason 
at  Piscataqua  and  the  beginnings  of  Rhode  Island  were 
denied  admission, — the  former,  because  they  "ran  a  different 
course  from  us  both  in  their  ministry  and  administration," 
and  the  latter,  because  they  were  regarded  as  "tumultuous" 
and  "schismatic." 

It  was  natural  that  men  who  had  so  much  in  common,  who 
had  come  hither  with  similar  purposes,  should  wish  to 
form  a  league  for  mutual  helpfulness  and  defense,  yet  they 
got  along  better  by  living  in  different  colonies,  because  men 
of  their  positive  views  needed  considerable  room.  They 
thought  more  of  one  another  because  miles  of  forest  separated 
them,  yet  they  were  all  Englishmen  of  solid  common  sense, 
who  saw  that  in  union  there  is  strength.  It  is  suggestive 
of  their  independence  of  judgment,  and  of  an  event  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  years  later,  that  they  did  not  ask 
permission  of  their  home  government.  After  a  preamble 
which  said  "we  live  encompassed  with  people  of  several 
nations  and  strange  languages,"  that  "the  savages  have 
of  late  combined  themselves  against  us,"  and  that  "the  sad 
distractions"  in  England  prevented  advice  and  protection 
thence;  the  paper  states  that  the  colonies  wished  to  maintain 
"a  firm  and  perpetual  league  of  friendship  and  amity,  for 
offense  and  defense,  mutual  advice  and  succor  upon  all  just 
occasions,  both  for  preserving  and  propagating  the  truth  and 


XKe  United  Colonies  of  Ne-w  England      183 

liberties  of  the  gospel,  and  for  their  own  mutual  safety  and 
welfare." 

The  first  two  articles  bound  together  the  four  colonies 
under  the  name  of  The  United  Colonies  of  New  England. 
The  third  provided  that  they  be  self-governing.  The 
fourth  ordered  that  levies  of  men,  money,  and  supplies 
for  war  should  be  assessed  on  the  colonies,  in  proportion  to 
the  male  population  between  sixteen  and  sixty.  By  the 
fifth,  upon  notice  of  three  magistrates  of  an  invasion,  the 
rest  were  to  send  relief;  Massachusetts  to  the  number  of 
one  hundred  men,  and  each  of  the  others,  forty-five,  "suf- 
ficiently armed  and  provided,"  and  if  more  were  needed  the 
commissioners  were  to  convene.  By  the  sixth,  a  board  of 
commissioners,  consisting  of  two  men  from  each  colony,  was 
to  "determine  all  affairs  of  war  or  peace  leagues,  aids,  charges, 
and  numbers  of  men  for  war,  division  of  spoils,  receiving 
more  confederates,  and  all  things  of  like  nature."  The 
concurrence  of  six  commissioners  should  be  conclusive; 
failing  in  this,  the  matter  was  to  be  referred  to  the  legisla- 
ture of  each  colony,  and  the  concurrence  of  the  four  was 
to  bind.  The  commissioners  met  once  a  year,  and  as  much 
oftener  as  necessary.  The  six  other  articles  ordered  that 
the  president  should  have  "no  power  or  respect"  except  "to 
take  care  and  direct";  that  action  should  be  taken  to  pro- 
mote peace  and  justice  between  the  colonies  and  toward  the 
Indians,  and  the  extradition  of  runaway  slaves  and  fugitives 
from  justice ;  that  whenever  any  colony  violated  the  alliance, 
the  others  should  determine  the  offense  and  remedy. 

The  two  defects  in  the  constitution  were  that  the  federal 
government  had  no  authority  to  act  on  individuals,  and  thus 
no  power  to  coerce;  and  the  equal  number  of  votes  allowed 
the  colonies  was  plainly  unjust,  since  the  population  of 
Massachusetts  was  greater  than  that  of  the  other  three 
colonies  combined.  The  commission,  with  such  men  as 
Haynes,  Hopkins,  Mason,  Winthrop,  Eaton,  and  Ludlow  on 
the  board,  increased  the  military  force  of  the  colonies,  and 


184  -A  History  of  Connecticvit 

helped  to  solve  puzzling  questions  about  boundaries,  pay  of 
soldiers,  tax  on  com  and  beaver,  and  union  of  Connecticut 
and  New  Haven. 

The  last  annual  meeting  of  the  confederation  was  held 
in  Hartford  in  1664.  The  conditions  leading  to  the  forming 
of  the  commission  had  to  a  large  degree  passed  away;  the 
surrender  of  New  Amsterdam  to  the  Duke  of  York  had  re- 
lieved the  colony  of  her  Dutch  neighbors;  Indians  within 
the  colonies  were  friendly,  and  for  six  years  the  meetings 
ceased,  but  in  1670,  a  convention  was  held  in  Boston,  and 
new  articles  of  confederation  adopted.  Power  for  offensive 
war  was  given  to  the  several  legislatures,  and  a  fiery  debate 
was  had  over  the  apportionment  of  military  forces  and 
supplies.  In  the  days  of  its  prosperity,  the  confederation 
was  of  some  use  in  concentrating  and  combining  the  military 
strength  of  the  colonies;  and  in  time  of  trouble,  it  sometimes 
brought  relief  and  satisfaction  to  people  tempted  to  be  dis- 
couraged. To  say  that  it  helped  much  to  prepare  for  the 
union  of  a  century  later  suggests  more  exercise  of  imagination 
than  use  of  facts. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
EARLY  MANUFACTURERS  AND  COMMERCE 

IT  is  impossible  to  think  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Connecticut 
as  we  know  it  as  other  than  interested  in  manufacturing 
and  trade.  As  we  have  seen,  one  of  the  inducements  the 
Indians  urged,  when  they  invited  the  settlers  to  come  hither, 
was  the  opportunity  for  trade.  Since  there  were  no  roads 
in  the  beginning,  and  Sound  and  rivers  offered  many  con- 
venient outlets  for  their  products,  ships  and  shipbuilding 
began  to  interest  the  people  at  an  early  date.  The  larger 
vessels  had  three  masts,  whose  principal  sails  were  extended 
by  yards  slung  to  the  middle,  and  often  to  other  vessels 
which  would  not  now  deserve  the  term.  The  Mayflower, 
a  large  vessel  for  its  day,  registered  only  one  hundred  and 
twenty  tons.  There  was  a  two-masted  vessel  called  the 
"  ketch,"  square-rigged  like  the  vessels  just  described,  and 
also  having  a  fore-and-aft  mainsail.  There  were  also 
schooners  with  two  topsails,  and  there  were  full-rigged  brigs. 
The  smaller  vessels  were  generally  sloop-rigged,  with  one 
stout  and  not  very  high  mast,  a  very  large  topsail  and 
mainsail.  The  vessels  were  well-built  and  strong,  and  slow 
sailers,  with  low  decks,  high  waist,  and  less  sharpness  in  the 
bow  than  now,  but  they  were  good  sea  boats,  and  varied 
from  fifty  to  two  hundred  tons.  They  made  two,  and  some- 
times three,  voyages  a  year  to  the  West  Indies.  They  often 
stayed  long  in  a  port  to  pick  up  a  cargo,  sending  boats  far 
along  the  coast  or  inland  to  gather  sugar,  molasses,  and  rum 

185 


1 86  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

from  the  large  estates,  and  on  these  excursions  sailors  some- 
times contracted  fevers.  Shipbuilding  was  a  laborious 
trade,  as  there  were  no  appliances  for  bending  timbers  by- 
steam;  and  logs  were  converted  into  planks  by  having  one 
man  beneath  in  a  pit,  the  other  above;  bolts,  spikes,  and 
nails  were  shaped  by  the  blacksmith;  pins  with  a  broad- 
axe.  The  first  man  in  Wethersfield  to  build  a  ship  was 
Samuel  Smith,  in  the  year  1649,  and  for  many  years 
sloops,  schooners,  and  brigs  were  built  there,  on  both  sides 
of  the  river.  The  launching  was  a  popular  event,  at  which 
there  was  a  liberal  supply  of  Santa  Cruz  rum,  and  balls  were 
often  held  in  the  evening.  A  diary  of  a  Glastonbury  man  of 
October  30,  1794,  says:  "Went  to  launching  of  a  ship  of 
five  hundred  tons ;  not  less  than  three  thousand  persons  were 
present."  When  vessels  sailed,  it  was  the  custom  to  have 
prayers  offered  in  the  churches  for  their  safe  return ;  and  on 
their  coming  to  port,  thanks  were  given  for  their  safety. 

Owing  to  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  coast  and  dangers  from 
freebooters,  especially  in  times  of  war,  it  was  regarded  a 
risky  thing  to  go  from  New  Haven  to  Boston;  Nicholas 
Augur,  one  of  the  earliest  physicians  of  New  Haven,  and 
interested  also  in  commercial  ventures,  being  about  to  sail 
for  Boston,  made  his  will.  A  few  years  later,  when  returning 
home,  he  was  wrecked  on  an  island  off  Cape  Sable,  and  died 
there.  The  first  mention  of  commerce  between  New  Haven 
and  Barbadoes  was  in  1647,  when  salted  beef  was  exchanged 
for  sugar.  Salted  fish  was  early  an  article  of  export — the 
famous  alewives  or  alewhorps,  whose  many  bones  became 
tender  by  the  time  they  reached  the  West  Indies.  In  1680, 
there  were  but  twenty-six  vessels  in  the  colony — four  ships, 
three  pinks,  two  barks,  six  ketches,  and  eleven  sloops. 
Hartford  had  a  sloop  of  ninety  tons,  which  traded  with 
England;  Middletown  a  ship  of  seventy  tons;  New  Lon- 
don the  brigantine  Dolphin  of  eighty  tons.  These  were 
engaged  in  European  and  West  India  trade.  The  ton- 
nage tax  was  fifteen  shillings,  paid  annually  as  a  town  tax. 


M 


Early  Manvifactvirers  and  Commerce       187 

The  slender  commerce  was  carried  on  mostly  from  New 
London,  whence  all  vessels  had  to  clear,  and  where  a  naval 
officer  was  stationed.  Goods  could  be  imported  only  from 
the  town  of  Berwick  on  the  Tweed  and  the  West  Indies. 
In  1702,  the  number  of  lawful  ports  in  the  colony  was  in- 
creased to  include  Saybrook,  Guilford,  New  Haven,  Milford, 
Stratford,  Fairfield,  and  Stamford.  Commerce  was  handi- 
capped by  scanty  sawmills  and  shipyards,  ignorance  of 
channels  and  inlets,  danger  from  pirates,  and  during  wars, 
by  French  and  Spanish  privateers.  The  English  Acts  of 
Trade,  dating  from  1660,  applied  to  the  colonies,  and  there 
were  restrictive  laws  passed  by  the  several  colonies  against 
one  another.  A  law  was  passed  by  the  legislature  in  1694, 
which  required  vessels  to  pay  "powder  money"  at  every 
fort,  within  whose  range  they  came,  at  risk  of  cannonade. 
In  1659,  nine  men  were  appointed  by  the  General  Court,  one 
for  every  port,  to  enter  and  record  such  goods  as  were  sub- 
ject to  custom.  An  excise  of  a  shilling  apiece  was  laid  on 
beaver  skins  as  early  as  1638,  and  in  1659,  a  duty  of  twenty- 
five  shillings  was  laid  on  every  butt  of  wine,  and  a  tax  on 
liquor  or  rum,  except  that  from  Barbadoes,  commonly  called 
Kill  Devil,  which  was  not  allowed  to  land.  In  1662,  an  act 
was  passed  prohibiting  the  carrying  of  corn  or  other  pro- 
visions out  of  the  river,  and  in  the  same  year,  the  General 
Court  passed  a  vote  to  require  the  customs-masters  to  col- 
lect an  import  duty  of  twopence  per  pound  on  tobacco, 
"according  to  the  law  of  England." 

In  1702,  Saybrook  became  a  port  of  entry  for  the  river, 
and  was  allowed  a  naval  officer,  but  he  was  not  recognized 
by  the  crown,  and  vessels  clearing  from  that  town  were 
liable  to  seizure  in  England,  when  they  could  not  produce 
clearance  papers  signed  by  the  collector  of  the  crown  at 
New  London,  the  only  port  established  by  British  authority. 
In  1 7 14,  an  export  duty  of  twenty  shillings  per  thousand  was 
levied  on  barrel  staves,  and  thirty  shillings  on  pipe  staves 
shipped   from  the  colony,  in  which  Wethersfield  had  the 


1 88  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

largest  business.  "Pipe  staves,  clapboards,  and  tar"  appear 
to  have  been  the  earliest  articles  of  export,  and  these  were 
carried  off  in  such  quantities  that  a  fear  arose  that  there 
might  be  a  total  destruction  of  timber,  and  as  early  as  1641, 
a  law  provided  for  the  dimensions  of  pipe  staves,  and  for 
an  inspector  in  every  town.  The  staves  were  shipped  in 
bundles  to  the  West  Indies;  many  returning  in  the  shape 
of  pipes  or  hogsheads,  filled  with  molasses,  sugar,  or  rum; 
while  many  were  made  into  casks  in  the  colony,  and  filled 
with  salt  beef,  pork,  fish,  and  kiln-dried  corn  meal  for  the 
West  Indies,  whence  also  salt  was  brought  in  large  quantities. 
In  1 715,  a  duty  was  imposed  on  ship  timber  sent  to  other 
provinces,  and  a  duty  of  twelve  shillings  and  sixpence  was  laid 
on  every  hundred  pounds  of  goods  imported  here  by  non- 
inhabitants.  In  1747,  a  five  per  cent,  ad  valorem  duty  was 
placed  on  goods  imported  from  other  colonies,  if  the  importer 
resided  in  the  colony ;  if  he  lived  outside,  the  duty  was  half 
as  much  more.  Exceptions  to  this  law  were  iron,  nails, 
steel,  salt,  beaver,  leather,  deerskins,  fish,  train  oil,  whalebone, 
rice,  tar,  turpentine,  window-glass,  and  lumber.  From  the 
report  made  to  the  Privy  Council  by  Governor  Leete  in 
1680,  it  appears  that  horses,  rye,  wheat,  barley,  peas,  wool, 
hemp,  flax,  cider,  tar,  and  pitch  were  shipped  to  Barbados, 
Jamaica,  Fayal,  and  Madeira,  but  much  was  taken  to  Boston 
and  "bartered  for  clothing."  Afterward,  beaver,  deer- 
skins, brick,  salted  beef,  pork,  and  fish,  flaxseed,  and  onions 
were  added  to  the  exports,  and  "European  goods,"  with 
salt,  rum,  molasses,  and  sugar  from  the  West  Indies,  formed 
the  chief  imports. 

There  was  another  line  of  business  carried  on  by  the  sea 
captains  of  which  we  have  no  definite  records,  a  clandestine 
business,  but  one  that  had  money  in  it,  in  which  some  of  the 
vessels  from  Connecticut  ports  may  have  engaged — that  of 
slavers.  Vessels  left  New  England  for  the  Canary  Islands 
"and  a  market,"  and  the  market  was  the  west  coast  of 
Africa,  and  the  return  cargo  was  a  load  of  blacks  for  the 


Early  Manvifactxirers  and  Commerce       189 

West  India  ports  or  the  southern  cities  of  America.  We 
wish  it  were  not  morally  certain  that  some  Connecticut 
captains  engaged  in  this  traffic;  but  the  chances  are  that 
the  attractions  of  making  money  in  this  way  would 
appeal  as  strongly  to  an  occasional  Connecticut  man  as  to 
a  captain  from  Newport,  and  Narragansett  Bay  was  the 
home  of  many  vessels  engaged  in  transporting  blacks  from 
Africa.  If  a  vessel  out  of  the  Connecticut  river,  or  New  Lon- 
don harbor  was  gone  six  or  nine  months  on  a  trading  voyage, 
the  wise  ones  looked  as  though  they  could  a  tale  unfold. 
There  was  an  effort  in  1665,  to  make  New  London  the 
center  of  trade  in  the  colony;  a  letter  was  written  by  the 
colonial  government  to  the  commissioners  appointed  by 
Charles  II.,  complaining  of  the  low  ebb  in  traffic,  and  asking 
for  free  trade  for  seven,  ten,  or  twelve  years.  Again  in  1680, 
there  was  a  request  for  free  ports  for  twenty,  fifteen,  or  ten 
years.  In  describing  the  harbor  the  letter  says:  "A  ship 
of  five  hundred  tunns  may  go  up  to  the  Town,  and  come  so 
near  shoar  that  they  may  toss  a  biskitt  on  shoar. "  No 
royal  privileges  were  granted,  nor  were  they  necessary,  for 
the  energy  and  enterprise  of  the  people  were  sufficient.  The 
first  shipbuilder  of  importance  at  New  London,  the  best 
port  of  the  colony,  was  John  Coit,  who  built  barks  of  from 
twelve  to  twenty  tons  for  from  fifty  to  eighty-two  pounds.  In 
1 66 1,  the  first  merchant  vessel  built  in  the  place  was  launched 
with  the  name  of  New  London  Tryall,  and  the  cost  of  it 
was  two  hundred  pounds.  There  was  soon  a  coast  trade 
with  New  York,  and  in  1662,  trade  sprang  up  with  Virginia 
in  dry  hides  and  buckskins.  The  captains  were  usually 
part  owners,  and  vessels,  carrying  two  men  and  a  boy,  went 
along  the  shore,  stopping  here  and  there  to  trade  and  dicker. 
New  London  soon  became  famous  for  its  coasters  and 
skippers,  and  men  from  other  seaside  places  were  engaged  in 
the  business.  It  was  a  notable  event  for  the  commerce  of 
Connecticut  when  in  October,  1707,  John  Shackmaple  was 
appointed   by   the   home   government   collector,   surveyor, 


190  -A.  History  of  Connectic\»t 

and  searcher  for  the  colony.  Commerce  increased,  and 
horses  were  sent  in  large  numbers  to  the  West  Indies.  Ori 
June  26,  1724,  six  vessels  went  together,  loaded  with  horses. 
The  vessels  were  called  "  horse- jockeys "  and  forty  or  fifty 
horses  were  sometimes  carried  on  one  vessel.  In  1720, 
Captain  John  Jeffrey  came  from  Portsmouth,  England,  and 
settled  at  Groton  Bank.  Five  years  later,  he  built  for 
Captain  Sterling  the  largest  vessel  yet  constructed  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  a  vessel  of  seven  hundred  tons,  and  soon 
New  London  had  a  reputation  for  large  ships. 

In  1730,  the  "New  England  Society  of  Trade  and 
Commerce"  was  formed  with  eighteen  members  scattered 
over  the  colony,  but  misfortune  attended  it  from  the  start: 
a  whaler  which  it  sent  out  came  to  grief;  other  vessels  were 
lost,  and  it  tried  to  redeem  its  fortunes  by  emitting  paper, 
but  to  no  good  purpose,  and  the  governor  and  council  were 
forced  to  dissolve  it  in  1735.  In  1760,  the  first  Hghthouse 
on  the  coast  was  erected  at  the  entrance  to  New  London 
harbor  from  the  proceeds  of  a  lottery. 

A  famous  enterprise  of  Connecticut  Yankees  started 
in  1740,  when  William  and  Edward  Paterson  came  from 
County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  skilled  in  the  art  of  shaping  tinned 
sheet  iron  into  small  ware.  Settling  in  Berlin,  they  began 
work.  Their  goods  were  eagerly  bought  as  luxuries,  and  in 
the  dearth  of  roads  and  wagons  they  carried  their  products 
around  in  handcarts,  and  in  large  baskets  swung  from  the 
backs  of  horses.  Many  shops  were  soon  in  full  blast  until  the 
war  interrupted  the  work.  The  minds  of  the  people  almost 
from  the  first  turned  to  inventions  and  manufactures,  and 
within  a  few  years  there  were  developed  trades,  engaging  the 
skill  of  sawyers,  carpenters,  ship-carpenters,  thatchers,  chim- 
ney-sweepers, brickmakers,  bricklayers,  plasterers,  tanners, 
shoemakers,  saddlers,  weavers,  tailors,  hatters,  blacksmiths, 
gunsmiths,  cutlers,  nailers,  millers,  bakers,  coopers,  and 
potters.  Often  the  same  man  practiced  several  trades. 
Little  could  be  done  without  iron  and  copper  and  in  1651, 


Early  Manufacturers  and  Commerce       191 

John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  petitioned  the  legislature  for  "incourage- 
ment  to  make  search  and  trial  for  metals  in  this  country." 
There  was  a  cordial  response,  and  in  1665,  iron  works  were 
projected;  Winthrop  and  Stephen  Goodyear  uniting  in 
setting  up  a  mill  for  rolling  balls  of  iron,  and  a  forge  at  the 
outlet  of  Lake  Saltonstall,  near  New  Haven,  and  the  works 
were  in  operation  there  for  several  years.  In  1661,  Winthrop 
prospected  in  the  vicinity  of  Middletown,  and  a  lead  mine, 
which  had  traces  of  silver,  was  worked  there  by  skilled  miners. 
Early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  interest  in  mining  awoke 
afresh  when  copper  was  found  in  Wallingford  and  Simsbury, 
and  in  1709,  the  General  Assembly  granted  the  first  charter 
in  America  to  a  mining  company;  this  organization  was 
formed  to  work  the  mine  at  Simsbury,  now  Granby.  The 
first  record  of  copper  at  Granby  was  in  1705,  when  a  com- 
mittee from  the  town  reported  that  there  was  a  "mine  of 
silver  or  copper  in  the  town."  Two  years  later  a  company 
was  formed,  and  a  contract  made  to  dig  for  ore.  The  ore 
was  shipped  to  England,  and  when  assayed  it  was  found  to 
contain  from  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent,  of  copper,  with 
sprinklings  of  gold  and  silver;  but  the  quartz  mixed  with  it 
was  refractory,  and  since  England  would  not  then  allow 
smelters  to  be  set  up  here,  the  cost  of  transportation  being 
so  heavy,  with  carting  and  loss  of  a  vessel,  which  sank  in  the 
British  Channel,  and  another  captured  by  the  French,  the 
company  bankrupted,  and  the  buildings  at  the  mines  and 
the  mine  were  attached  in  1725.  Work  was  carried  on  at 
intervals  for  seventy  years,  sometimes  by  slave  labor  some- 
times by  free;  now  by  private  parties,  then  by  chartered 
companies.  In  1728,  Joseph  Higley  took  out  a  patent  for  a 
process  of  making  steel — the  first  in  America,  and  was  given 
the  monopoly  for  ten  years,  and  in  1750,  there  was  a  steel 
furnace  at  Killingworth.  The  most  important  iron  mines 
in  Connecticut  are  those  in  Salisbury,  where  ore  was  first 
discovered  about  1732,  at  Ore  Hill,  about  a  mile  from  the 
New  York  line — a  deposit  of  brown  hematite,  and  it  was 


192  A  History  of  Connecticut 

first  forged  at  Lime  Rock,  five  miles  distant,  in  1734.  About 
1748,  a  forge  was  erected  at  Lakeville,  and  in  1762,  the  first 
blast  furnace  in  the  state  was  bmlt,  about  two  miles  from  the 
mine.  After  the  Revolution  opened,  the  government  took 
possession  and  put  it  into  full  operation  with  sixty  workmen, 
to  furnish  supplies  for  the  army.  Cannon  up  to  thirty-two- 
pounders,  with  shot  and  shell,  were  cast  there.  The  guns 
were  tested  under  the  eyes  of  such  leaders  as  Jay,  Morris, 
Hamilton,  and  Trumbull.  The  guns  of  the  battery  at  New 
York,  of  the  Constellation,  Constitution,  and  many  other 
battle-ships  of  the  old  navy,  were  made  of  the  Salisbury 
iron,  and  probably  at  Lakeville. 

Other  furnaces  were  established  in  that  region,  and  at 
one  time  Litchfield  County  contained  as  many  as  fifty  forges. 
The  Salisbury  mines  furnish  iron  of  decided  value  for  cannon, 
gun-barrels,  and  chains,  because  of  its  toughness.  For  years 
the  government  arsenal  at  Springfield  received  from  Salis- 
bury iron  for  guns.  It  is  now  used  for  car  wheels,  being 
mixed  with  other  iron,  thereby  nearly  doubling  the  life  of  a 
wheel.  There  are  references  in  the  records  to  iron  works  in 
Lyme  in  1 741,  in  Derby  in  1760;  and  the  largest  copper  mine 
in  Connecticut  was  opened  in  Bristol  late  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  1766,  Abel  Buell  of  Killingworth  made  the 
first  lapidary  machine  in  this  country.  About  1769,  there 
appeared  the  first  series  of  historical  prints — views  of  the 
battles  of  Lexington  and  Concord,  also  maps  for  Morse's 
geography. 

Tobacco  followed  commerce  from  Virginia  to  Connecticut, 
and  was  first  grown  in  the  latter  state  in  1640;  an  old  record 
says,  "most  people  plant  most  so  much  tobacco  as  they 
spend."  In  1641,  the  following  law  was  passed:  "It  is 
ordered  that  what  person  or  persons  within  this  jurisdiction 
shall  after  September,  1641,  drinke  any  other  tobacco,  but 
such  as  shalbe  planted  within  their  libertye,  shall  forfeit 
for  every  pound  so  spent,  five  shillings,  except  they  have 
license  from  this  Coute. "     In  1646,  the  law  was  repealed; 


Early  Man\jfact\irers  and  Commerce       193 

and  evidently  the  use  rapidly  increased,  for  in  1647,  a  law 
was  passed  to  lessen  the  abuses  arising  from  the  new  drug. 
It  was  provided  that  "no  one  under  twenty  years  nor  any 
other  that  hath  not  allreaddy  accustomed  himself  to  the  Use 
thereof  should  take  any  Tobacco  until  he  had  a  Certificat 
from  some  one  approved  in  Physicke  that  it  is  usefull  for 
him."  A  "Lycence"  from  the  Court  was  also  required. 
Even  then,  no  one  was  to  take  it  "  Publicquely, "  or  in 
"fyelds  or  woods,  unless  they  be  on  their  travill  or  joyney  at 
least  ten  myles. "  The  penalty  for  every  violation  was  six- 
pence. A  man  might  smoke  at  the  "ordinary  tyme  of 
repast  comonly  called  dynner, "  but  not  take  any  "Tobacco 
in  any  howse  in  the  same  towne  where  he  liveth  with  any  one 
in  company,  if  there  be  any  more  than  one  who  Useth  or 
drinketh  the  same  weed  with  him  at  the  same  tyme."  For 
fifty  years  the  main  question  concerning  the  use  of  tobacco 
was  from  the  standpoint  of  idleness  and  drinking.  In  1662, 
a  bill  was  passed  in  favor  of  high  protection,  putting  on  a 
tariff  of  twenty-five  shillings  per  hogshead;  after  1700, 
tobacco  was  one  of  the  exports. 

In  1732,  began  the  effort  to  raise  silkworms.  One  of 
the  earliest  planters  of  mulberry  trees  was  Gov.  Jonathan 
Law,  who  introduced  the  raising  of  silkworms  on  his  farm 
in  Cheshire,  and  in  1747,  appeared  in  public  in  the  first  coat 
and  stockings  made  of  Connecticut  silk;  Dr.  Aspinwall  of 
Mansfield  doing  much  to  promote  the  interest.  The 
records  of  the  General  Assembly  contain  suggestive  refer- 
ences to  favors  granted  to  promote  infant  industries;  in 
1708,  the  exclusive  right  was  given  to  John  Elliot  to  man- 
ufacture pitch ;  potash  received  a  favor  in  1743,  salt  in  1746, 
in  Branford  and  Lyme;  tar  and  turpentine  were  subjects  of 
law  from  1720,  bayberry  tallow  in  1724;  in  1732,  linseed  oil; 
bells  in  1736,  and  glass  making  in  1747,  when  Thomas 
Darling  of  New  Haven  was  granted  exclusive  right  to  make 
window  glass  for  twenty  years,  provided  he  made  five  hun- 
dred feet  in  four  years. 


194  -A.  History  of  Connecticvat 

In  1769,  Abel  Buell  of  Killingworth  established  the  first 
type  foundry  in  America,  and, in  the  collection  of  petitions 
in  the  State  Library  is  his  appeal,  printed  with  his  type,  ask- 
ing for  a  lottery  or  cash  to  enable  him  to  manufacture  type. 
The  manufacture  of  paper  began  in  Norwich  in  1768;  the 
colony  giving  to  Christopher  Leffingwell  a  bounty  of  two- 
pence a  quire  for  writing  paper,  and  one  penny  a  quire  for 
printing  paper.  In  1776,  a  paper-mill  in  East  Hartford 
supplied  the  press  at  Hartford,  which  issued  about  eight 
thousand  copies  a  week;  and  manufactured  also  writing 
paper  used  in  the  colony,  together  with  much  of  that  used  by 
the  Continental  Congress.  A  bill  to  regulate  the  sale  of 
onions  dates  from  1 772 ;  also  a  bill  concerning  the  manufac- 
ture of  ploughs  in  1 77 1.  In  1776,  a  man  asked  of  the  legisla- 
ture a  loan  of  one  hundred  pounds  to  build  a  stocking  factory. 
Inventive  minds  were  seeking  to  solve  the  problem  of  per- 
petual motion,  and  asking  the  General  Assembly  for  aid  in 
achieving  that  brilliant  exploit.  It  was  a  period  of  energy, 
enterprise,  and  venture — a  vigorous  preparation  for  the  mar- 
vellous developments  of  the  next  century. 


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CHAPTER  XV 
EXPANSION 

THE  century  following  the  grant  of  the  charter  was  a 
season  of  quiet  growth,  during  which  Connecticut  went 
steadily  forward,  building  the  institutions  of  a  free  common- 
wealth with  judgment  and  energy.  The  charter  was  liberal 
and  strong;  the  people  thrifty,  industrious,  and  energetic; 
occasions  for  commerce  favorable;  much  of  the  soil  good, 
and  the  climate  stimulating.  In  1680,  the  colonial  govern- 
ment of  Connecticut,  in  answer  to  a  request  of  the  English 
board  of  trade,  sent  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
colony,  which  suggests  the  weakness  of  the  colony  and  the 
sturdy  hearts  of  the  colonists.  John  AUyn  wrote  the  draft 
of  the  letter,  and  he  estimated  the  fighting  men  in  train  bands 
of  the  colony  at  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  seven, 
which  would  imply  a  population  of  ten  thousand,  or 
five  persons  to  the  square  mile.  The  people  had  "little 
traffique  abroad,"  except  "sending  what  provisions  we  rays 
to  Boston,  where  we  buy  goods  with  it,  to  cloath  vs."  He 
described  the  country  as  mountainous,  rocky,  and  swampy ; 
most  that  was  fit  had  been  taken  up:  "what  remaynes  must 
be  subdued,  and  gained  out  of  the  fire,  as  it  were,  by  hard 
blowes  and  for  small  recompence."  The  principal  towns 
were  Hartford,  New  Haven,  New  London,  and  Fairfield, 
with  twenty-six  smaller  towns.  The  buildings  were  of 
wood,  stone,  and  brick,  many  of  them  "forty  foot  long  and 
twenty  broad,  and  some  larger."     The  exports  were  farm 

195 


196  A  History  of  Connecticut 

products,  boards,  staves,  and  horses,  mainly  sent  to  Boston, 
but  some  to  the  West  Indies  to  barter  "for  sugar,  cotton 
and  rumme  and  some  money."  There  were  but  twenty 
merchants  in  the  colony,  few  servants,  and  about  thirty 
slaves.  Labor  was  scarce  and  dear ;  wages  were  two  shillings 
and  two  and  sixpence  a  day ;  provisions  were  cheap ;  beggars 
and  tramps  "were  not  suffered,"  and  when  found  they  were 
bound  out  to  service.  Taxable  property  was  estimated  at 
one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  pounds;  two-fifths  of  it 
being  of  the  nature  of  a  poll  tax,  and  this  tax  was  assessed 
according  to  an  arbitrary  schedule  of  wealth  or  position,  so 
that  it  took  the  nature  of  an  income  tax. 

In  the  development  of  new  towns,  one  of  two  methods 
was  followed:  A  speculator  or  company  might  buy  lands 
from  the  Indians,  with  the  approval  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  as  soon  as  the  rates  became  sufficiently  large  to  need  the 
extension  of  the  Assembly's  taxing  power  over  the  little 
community,  a  committee  was  appointed  by  that  body  to 
bound  out  the  town ;  it  was  then  in  order  to  choose  constables, 
and  send  delegates  to  the  Assembly.  The  other  process 
tended  to  become  the  only  one,  and  it  was  as  follows:  the 
original  towns  were  usually  extensive — six  to  ten  miles  square 
as  Wethersfield  embraced  Glastonbury,  Rocky  Hill,  Newing- 
ton  and  a  part  of  Berlin;  and  persons  living  in  remote 
parts  finding  it  difficult  to  attend  the  central  church, 
especially  in  winter,  would  ask  for  "winter-privileges"  for 
a  time  and  would  have  a  preacher  for  themselves  during  the 
snowy  months.  When  enough  people  could  be  found  in  a 
certain  section  to  support  a  minister  of  their  own,  they 
applied  to  the  General  Assembly  for  permission  to  form  a 
church.  This  usually  met  strong  opposition  from  the  old 
church,  but  at  length  the  come-outers  had  their  way;  form- 
ing a  church,  which  became  a  germ  of  a  new  town.  A  good 
example  is  Plainfield,  which  was  settled  as  the  Quinnahaug 
Plantation,  and  in  1700,  becoming  a  town  it  was  incorporated 
under  the  name  of  Plainfield,  which  gave  as  a  brand  for  the 


Expansion  197 

horses  turned  loose  to  pasture,  a  triangle.  We  are  not  to  think 
that  changes  came  in  the  towns,  and  separations  of  neigh- 
borhoods into  new  towns  as  gently  and  quietly  as  spring 
passes  into  summer.  Such  resolute  men  as  settled  Connecti- 
cut seldom  neglected  an  occasion  for  debate  and  even  con- 
troversy, when  they  imagined  their  rights  threatened,  or 
thought  they  could  advance  their  interests.  There  was  a 
border  warfare  between  Plainfield  and  Canterbury,  attended 
by  pulling  down  fences  and  carrying  off  hay  and  grain.  There 
were  innumerable  lawsuits,  and  nearly  all  the  principal 
men  of  Canterbury  were  indicted  for  "stealing  bales  of 
hay,"  and  fined  ten  shillings.  In  1703,  the  General  As- 
sembly ordered  a  division  of  the  territory,  and  in  17 14,  the 
same  body  ordered  the  following  of  the  line  established  at 
the  earlier  date,  thus  increasing  the  confusion,  and  fanning 
the  flames  of  border-ruffianism;  and  finally,  in  1721,  the 
limits  of  the  contending  towns  were  established. 

From  1700,  until  1745,  thirty  new  towns  were  incorpo- 
rated, and  the  growth  in  population  was  steady.  In  1755, 
the  board  of  trade  estimated  it  at  one  hundred  thousand. 
In  1762,  all  the  soil  of  the  colony  had  been  allotted  to  town- 
ships, and  new  towns  formed  after  that  year  were  carved 
out  of  those  already  in  existence.  Even  in  the  dark  days 
of  the  Revolution,  the  energetic  people  continued  to  pop- 
ulate the  vacant  places.  In  1779-80,  five  towns  were  laid 
out;  from  1784,  to  1787,  twenty-one,  —  twelve  of  them 
in  1786.  Tolland  County  was  divided  off  in  1786,  as  Wind- 
ham had  been  in  1726,  Litchfield  in  1751,  and  Middlesex  in 
1765.  These,  with  the  four  original  counties  of  Fairfield, 
New  Haven,  Hartford,  and  New  London,  made  the  present 
eight  counties. 

The  settlement  of  Windham  County  may  illustrate  the 
way  the  later  counties  came  into  being.  Windham  County 
is  the  northwest  section  of  the  state,  about  eighty  miles 
from  Boston,  and  across  it  travelers  toiled  without  halting 
for  over  half  a  century,  regarding  its  broken,  rock-strewn 


19^  -A.  History  of"  Connecticut 

surface,  its  lakes  and  rivers,  its  wild,  craggy  forests,  miry 
swamps,  and  sandy  barrens  as  a  part  of  a  "hideous  and 
trackless  wilderness."  Large  parts  of  it  had  been  kept 
burned  over  by  the  Indians  for  pasturage  for  deer.  In  1664, 
settlers  came  from  Roxbury  to  the  Nipmuck  region,  travel- 
ing over  the  Old  Connecticut  Path  to  form  a  town  in  what 
is  now  Woodstock,  and  on  March  5,  1690,  the  Assembly 
voted  to  call  it  Woodstock,  and  in  the  following  May,  the 
first  town  meeting  was  held  in  the  town.  Two  years  later, 
a  similar  meeting  was  held  in  Windham,  and  Pomfret  held 
a  meeting  before  1700;  Plainfield,  one  in  1700;  Canterbury, 
one  in  1703,  and  Killingley  in  1708.  In  Ashford,  that  wild, 
forest  region,  remote  from  civilization,  yet  on  the  Old 
Connecticut  Path,  which  ran  across  what  is  now  its  common, 
the  first  town  meeting  was  held  in  171 5.  It  came  to  pass 
that,  during  the  forty  years  following  the  first  settlement  of 
that  region,  eight  towns  were  formed  in  Windham  County, 
and  every  one  of  them  had  settled  "a  learned  and  orthodox 
minister,"  and  had  grist  mills,  tanneries,  the  beginnings  of 
roads,  besides  taverns.  Money  was  scarce,  food  scanty, 
hard  work  plentiful,  a  conspicuous  arena  for  the  Great  Awak- 
ening so  soon  to  come,  and  a  rich  field  for  the  builders 
of  summer  homes  in  recent  years. 

Litchfield  County,  so  famous  for  its  glorious  scenery, 
learned  jurists,  and  powerful  preachers,  was  organized  in 
1 751,  having  eleven  towns,  Canaan,  Cornwall,  Salisbury, 
Kent,  Sharon,  Torrington,  Harwinton,  Woodbury,  New 
Hartford,  Goshen  and  New  Milford.  This  is  the  largest 
county  in  the  state,  with  a  gravely  loam,  interspersed  with 
fertile  lands,  and  watered  by  the  Naugatuck,  Housatonic, 
and  Farmington  rivers. 

Before  all  the  soil  of  the  colony  had  been  taken  by  settlers 
there  was  a  disposition  to  swarm.  The  first  effort  was  due 
to  the  boundary  settlement  of  17 13-14  between  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts.  Because  of  concessions  made  by 
Connecticut,   Massachusetts  gave  the  sister  colony  sixty 


Expansion  199 

thousand  acres  of  her  western  lands.  Some  of  these  were 
in  Vermont,  though  believed  to  be  in  Massachusetts.  Pri- 
vate parties  bought  them,  and  the  erection  of  Fort  Dummer 
in  1729,  gave  some  promise  of  protection.  New  York 
claimed  the  whole  territory  under  the  grant  to  the  Duke 
of  York,  but  the  Connecticut  colonists  carried  with  them 
the  system  of  town  government  with  which  they  were 
familiar,  and  asserted  their  "independence  and  unbridled 
democracy."  When  the  territory  became  a  state  in  1777,  it 
took  the  title  of  New  Connecticut,  the  name  Vermont  being 
substituted  during  the  year — a  triumph  for  the  Connecticut 
town  system.  The  way  Vermont  was  settled  is  also  sug- 
gested by  names  of  towns  found  in  that  state,  such  as  Hart- 
ford, Wethersfield,  and  Windsor.  Vermont  may  be  thought 
of  as  a  child  of  Litchfield  County.  Ethan  Allen  was  born  at 
Litchfield  in  1739;  when  thirty  years  old  he  moved  to  what 
was  then  known  as  New  Hampshire  Grants,  but  is  now  Ver- 
mont, and  became  a  vigorous  opponent  of  the  encroachments 
of  New  York.  Seth  Warner,  born  in  Roxbury,  Connecticut, 
in  1743,  settled  at  Bennington,  and  with  Allen  became  one 
of  the  -  active  Green  Mountain  Boys,  resisting  New  York 
encroachments  and  valiant  in  the  Revolution.  The  first 
governor  of  Vermont  was  from  Litchfield  County,  and  in 
later  times  three  other  governors,  three  United  States 
senators,  and  one  chief  justice.  Forty-five  of  her  governors 
have  been  natives  of  Connecticut;  twenty-one  of  her  Su- 
preme Court  judges,  and  eleven  of  her  United  States 
senators. 

The  expansion  of  the  colony  westward  was  encouraged 
by  the  fact  that  the  charter  bounds  extended  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  When  the  Plymouth  council  gave  up  its  charter 
in  1635,  it  notified  the  king  that  the  grant  was  "through  all 
the  mainland,  from  sea  to  sea,  being  near  about  three  thou- 
sand miles  in  length."  The  geographers  in  England  knew 
also  that  the  Connecticut  grant  was  three  thousand  miles 
long,  though  no  one  dreamed  then  of  pressing  the  claim  be- 


200  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

yond  the  Mississippi  River  to  lands  owned  by  the  Spanish, 
but  Connecticut  did  think  that  she  owned  the  northern 
two-fifths  of  Pennsylvania.  Soon  after  the  charter  was 
granted,  Charles  gave  his  brother  James  the  Dutch  colony 
of  New  Netherland,  thus  interfering  with  the  contin- 
uity of  Connecticut.  In  1681,  Charles  gave  William  Penn 
a  grant  of  Pennsylvania,  which  took  from  the  Connecticut 
strip  the  northern  coal,  iron,  and  oil  fields.  In  1753,  a  move- 
ment was  made  to  colonize  the  Wyoming  Country  as  the 
Pennsylvania  section  was  called:  it  started  in  Windham 
County.  In  1754,  the  Susquehanna  Company  was  formed 
with  nearly  seven  hundred  members,  of  whom  six  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  were  of  Connecticut.  Their  agents  made  a 
treaty  with  the  Five  Nations,  July  11,  1754,  by  which  they 
secured  for  two  thousand  pounds  a  tract  of  land,  beginning 
at  the  forty-first  degree  of  latitude,  the  southern  boundary 
of  Connecticut;  thence  running  north,  following  the  line 
of  the  Susquehanna  to  the  present  northern  boundary  of 
Pennsylvania;  thence  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  west; 
thence  south  to  the  forty-first  degree,  and  back  to  the  point 
of  beginning.  The  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut 
acquiesced,  provided  that  the  king  approved.  Pennsylvania 
objected,  but  the  company  sent  out  surveyors  and  plotted 
the  tract.  Settlement  began  on  the  Delaware  River  in 
1757,  and  in  the  Susquehanna  purchase  in  1762.  There 
were  conflicts  between  the  settlers  and  the  Pennsylvania 
men;  the  number  of  Connecticut  men  increased  to  some 
three  thousand.  The  Connecticut  Assembly  passed  a  resolu- 
tion in  1 77 1,  maintaining  the  claim  of  its  colony  to  its  charter 
limits  west  of  the  Delaware.  In  1774,  i^  raised  the  Susque- 
hanna district  into  a  town,  under  the  name  of  Westmoreland, 
making  it  a  part  of  Litchfield  County,  and  its  deputies  took 
their  places  in  the  Connecticut  legislature.  In  1776, 
Westmoreland  was  made  a  distinct  county.  Connecticut 
laws  and  taxes  were  enforced  regularly;  Connecticut  courts 
alone  were  in  session  there;   the  levies  from  the  district 


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Ticket  of  a  Lottery  to  Build  the  Bulfinch  State-House.     The  Original  is  Owned  by 

George  S.  Goddard 

At  the  May  session,  1793.  the  General  Assembly  granted  a  lottery  to  raise  £,^oao  lawful  money 
for  erecting  and  completing  the  State  House  at  Hartford,  and  appointed  Messrs.  John 
Chester,  Xoadiah  Hooker,  John  Caldwell,  John  Morgan,  John  Trumbull,  or  any  two  of  them  , 
managers.      Owing  to  circumstances  the  lottery  was  not  productive 


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The  Connecticut  Land  Gore 

From  The  Connecticut  Land  Core  Company,  by  Albert  C.  Bates 


Sxpansioxi  201 

formed  the  twenty-fourth  Connecticut  regiment  in  the 
Continental  armies.  In  July,  1778,  after  the  Continental 
Congress  had  refused  to  allow  the  men  from  Westmoreland 
in  the  army  to  return  home,  a  band  of  tories  and  Indians 
under  John  Butler  and  Joseph  Brandt,  fell  upon  the  defense- 
less settlement.  The  old  men  and  boys  mustered,  and  fought 
until  half  their  number  was  cut  down.  The  women  and  chil- 
dren were  spared  for  the  greater  horrors  of  the  overland  retreat 
to  Connecticut,  and  the  new  county  disappeared.  Detached 
parties  returning  from  time  to  time,  gathered  slight  crops, 
under  danger  from  the  Indians,  but  Westmoreland  County 
was  no  more.  When  the  articles  of  confederation  went 
into  force,  a  court  was  appointed  to  settle  the  Susque- 
hanna or  Wyoming  dispute.  Connecticut  asked  for  time  to 
get  papers  from  England,  but  was  overruled  by  Congress, 
which  ordered  the  court  to  meet  at  Trenton.  The  unani- 
mous decision  was  that  Wyoming  belonged  to  Pennsylvania. 
The  Wyoming  settlers  had  a  hard  time  for  years,  being 
deserted  by  their  own  state,  and  left  to  the  mercy  of  rival 
claimants.  The  old  Susquehanna  Company  reorganized  in 
1785-86,  but  there  were  dissensions  between  the  first  settlers 
and  the  newcomers,  and  in  1799,  Pennsylvania  passed  an 
act  to  allow  actual  settlers  to  retain  their  lands,  thus  there 
came  to  be  a  large  infusion  of  Connecticut  blood  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Had  it  not  been  for  the  Revolution,  Connecticut 
might  have  retained  the  Wyoming  country;  as  it  was,  the 
dreams  of  Westmoreland  faded,  and  the  state  is  restricted 
to  the  present  territory. 

This  seems  to  be  the  place  to  speak  of  the  Connecticut 
Gore  Land  Company.  In  May,  1792,  five  citizens  of  Hart- 
ford were  appointed  to  build  "a  large  and  convenient  State 
House,"  and  owing  to  a  scarcity  of  money,  the  Assembly 
in  May,  1793,  voted  that  the  committee  be  allowed  to  hold 
the  Hartford  State  House  Lottery.  Tickets  to  the  number 
of  twenty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-seven  were 
issued   at   five   dollars  a   ticket.      Twelve  and  a  half   per 


202  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

cent,  was  set  apart  for  the  prizes,  which  ranged  from  ten 
to  eight  thousand  dollars.  Two  years  dragged  by  with 
small  sales  of  the  tickets;  the  lottery  was  a  failure.  The 
money  contributed  by  the  state  for  the  new  building  having 
been  expended,  the  work  was  at  a  standstill,  when,  in  May, 

1794,  Jeremiah  Halsey  and  Andrew  Ward  of  Guilford  pro- 
posed that  the  state  deed  to  them  the  Gore  west  of  the  Dela- 
ware River,  that  they  might  sell  the  land  in  foreign  markets, 
offering  to  share  the  proceeds  with  the  state.    y^On  July  25, 

1795,  Samuel  Huntington,  the  governor,  executed  a  deed, 
releasing  the  land  to  the  men  mentioned  above.  The  Gore 
was  a  strip  of  land,  two  and  a  third  miles  wide  and  two 
hundred  and  forty-five  miles  long,  and  it  came  into  possession 
of  Connecticut  in  this  way.  The  Plymouth  Company,  in 
1628,  sold  to  an  association  of  Massachusetts  Bay  all  New 
England  from  the  Atlantic  ocean  to  the  South  Sea,  between 
the  parallels  three  miles  north  of  the  Merrimack  River  and 
three  miles  south  of  the  Charles  River,  "or  of  any  or  every 
part  thereof."  The  Connecticut  charter  described  its 
northern  boundary  as  the  southern  of  Massachusetts.  The 
question  as  to  the  boundary  between  Connecticut  and 
Massachusetts,  as  we  have  seen  in  an  earlier  chapter,  was 
long  in  controversy:  In  1642,  the  Massachusetts  surveyors 
placed  it  at  forty-one  degrees  fifty-five  minutes  north  lati- 
tude, and  in  1695,  Connecticut  surveyors  placed  it  at  forty- 
two  degrees  north,  or  a  difference  of  two  miles  and  a  third, 
and  thus  the  strip  of  two  and  a  third  by  two  hundred  and 
forty-five  miles,  west  of  New  York,  became  known  as  the 
Gore.  After  receiving  the  deed.  Ward  and  Halsey  offered 
fifty  thousand  acres  for  sale,  and  the  value  of  the  land  rose 
as  farms  were  bought.  New  York  interfered,  and  the  courts 
supported  the  Connecticut  Gore  Land  Company,  but  in  the 
deal  between  the  United  States  government  and  Connecticut, 
whereby  the  latter  gave  up  all  claims  on  western  lands,  on 
condition  that  it  receive  the  Connecticut  Reserve,  the  Gore 
was  ceded  to  the  United  States  and  to  the  individual  states. 


Expansion  203 

Meanwhile  the  statehouse  had  been  finished;  shares  in  the 
Gore  Company  dropped  to  nothing;  in  1805-08,  Connecticut 
paid  it  forty  thousand  dollars  and  the  Gore  became  a  dim 
tradition. 

In  return  for  its  surrender  of  its  claims  on  western  lands, 
the  United  States  Government  gave  to  Connecticut  a  tract 
about  the  size  of  Wyoming  in  the  western^.part  of  Ohio, 
which  became  known  as  the  Western  Reserve  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  it  contained  about  three  million  three  hundred 
thousand  acres,  the  settlement  of  which  was  not  attempted 
until  after  the  passage  of  the  Northwest  Ordinance  of  1787, 
which  was  the  beginning  of  government  under  territorial 
system.  The  authorship  of  that  Ordinance  has  usually 
been  attributed  to  Nathan  Dane  of  Massachusetts,  but 
Manasseh  Cutler  of  Killingley,  minister,  doctor,  scientist, 
and  diplomat,  had  decided  influence  in  Congress  as  he  talked 
of  the  interests  of  Ohio  with  brilliant  persuasiveness,  in- 
sisting that  slavery  should  be  excluded,  and  provision  made 
for  a  university.  Indian  hostilities  delayed  the  settlement 
of  the  Reserve,  but  after  Anthony  Wayne's  campaign  in 
1794,  toilers  on  the  rocky  farms  of  Connecticut  sighed  for  the 
mellow  soil  of  Ohio,  and  in  1795,  the  General  Assembly 
passed  an  ordinance,  approving  the  sale  of  the  land,  and 
entrusting  it  to  eight  men,  one  from  every  county.  The 
section  was  divided  into  twelve  hundred  thousand  shares, 
and  Oliver  Phelps,  a  native  of  Windsor,  led  the  enter- 
prise, opening  an  office  in  Canandaigua — the  first  in  the 
country  for  sale  of  forest  lands  to  settlers.  Moses  Cleave- 
land  of  Canterbury,  magnetic,  able,  decisive,  and  patriotic, 
was  selected  as  agent  of  the  company.  Cleaveland,  whose 
name  will  always  be  associated  with  the  city  of  that  name, 
after  service  in  the  Revolution,  and  taking  his  degree  from 
Yale,  opened  a  law  office  in  Canterbury  and  won  a  high  place 
among  the  able  lawyers  of  Windham  County.  The  winter 
of  I795~96  was  one  of  active  preparation  for  the  migration. 
Augustus  Porter,  a  surveyor,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  after 


204  -A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

seven  seasons  of  laying  out  lands  in  western  New  York, 
was  well  fitted  to  conduct  the  expedition.  Six  weeks  carried 
the  party  to  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  portage  around  Niagara 
Falls  was  wearisome.  On  the  site  of  Buffalo,  a  conference 
was  held  with  Red  Jacket  of  the  Six  Nations,  the  stalwart 
form,  martial  air,  together  with  the  curt  but  courteous  ad- 
dress of  General  Cleaveland  won  the  admiration  and  con- 
fidence of  the  Indians.  The  payment  of  twelve  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  in  goods  secured  from  the  chiefs  a  formal 
relinquishment  of  their  claim  to  land  in  the  Western  Re- 
serve, and  the  expedition  embarked  on  Lake  Erie.  On  July 
4,  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  American  Independence, 
they  landed  at  a  place  they  christened  Fort  Independence, 
and  celebrated,  by  salutes  for  New  Connecticut.  Toasts 
were  given  and  the  day  "closed  with  three  cheers.  Drank 
several  pails  of  grog,  supped,  and  retired  in  remarkable  good 
order."  A  few  more  days  of  coasting  brought  the  party 
to  Cuyahoga  River,  where  a  landing  was  effected.  After 
climbing  to  a  broad  plateau,  and  gazing  upon  the  blue 
waters  of  the  lake  and  the  wide  plain,  General  Cleaveland 
said:  "This  shall  be  the  site  of  our  city.  Here  we  will  lay 
the  foimdation  of  the  metropolis  of  our  Reserve."  It  was 
a  sun-burned,  travel-stained  company  of  men  that  stood 
there  that  July  day,  a  fitting  beginning  for  the  city  of 
Cleaveland,  and  the  development  of  great  business  and 
educational  interests  of  the  Western  Reserve.  The  cen- 
sus of  1850  shows  that  twenty-three  thousand  of  the 
Ohio  people  were  from  Connecticut,  and  nineteen  thousand 
from  Massachusetts. 

•Few  other  men  in  American  history  have  accomplished 
results  of  greater  importance  than  Moses  Austin  and  his 
son  Steven,  in  planning  and  carrying  into  execution  the 
making  of  Anglo-American  Texas.  It  was  a  venturesome 
family.  Elijah  served  in  the  Revolution,  and  was  the  first 
to  fit  out  a  ship  for  China.  Moses,  brother  of  Elijah,  was  born 
in  Durham,  in  1764;  he  established  at  St.  Genevieve,  Mis- 


Expansion  205 

souri,  the  first  mines  west  of  the  Mississippi ;  he  planted  an 
Anglo-American  colony  in  the  rich  wastes  of  Texas.  Steven 
Austin,  the  son,  took  up  the  work;  both  father  and  son 
builded  better  than  they  knew,  and  are  highly  honored  as 
noble  founders  of  the  Lone  Star  State. 

In  1666,  Philip  Carteret,  the  new  governor  of  East 
Jersey,  arrived,  and  he  sent  agents  at  once  to  New  England, 
to  publish  the  terms  offered  to  settlers,  and  invite  them  to 
his  lands.  The  offer  was  liberal,  and,  in  the  following  year,  a 
committee  from  Guilford,  Milford,  and  Branford  was  sent 
ahead  to  look  over  the  country,  to  learn  more  exactly  of  the 
offer,  and  discover  how  friendly  were  the  Indians.  The  reply 
was  favorable,  and  the  word  passed  to  buy  a  township, 
select  a  site  and  arrange  for  settlement.  Soon  thirty  fam- 
ilies were  on  the  way  by  boat  from  New  Haven  to  Newark. 
On  reaching  the  spot  selected,  delegates  were  appointed 
to  form  a  government,  and  true  to  the  principles  of  the 
New  Haven  colony,  no  one  was  allowed  to  vote  or  hold 
office,  unless  he  was  a  member  of  a  Congregational  church. 
A  typical  pioneer  was  James  Kilbum  of  Granby,  who  in 

1802,  formed  a  company  with  seven  associates  to  move  to 
the  Northwest  Territory ;  Kilburn  going  ahead  to  explore.    In 

1803,  a  schoolhouse,  log  church,  blacksmith  shop,  and  twelve 
cabins  were  built  in  Worthington,  Ohio,  and  a  hundred  per- 
sons had  arrived.  The  first  Episcopal  church  in  the  state  was 
formed  there,  and  in  18 17,  Worthington  College,  of  which 
James  Kilburn  became  president.  He  also  went  to  the  legis- 
lature and  to  Congress,  and  he  formed  an  early  abolition 
society.  Many  of  the  first  settlers  in  Ohio  showed  their 
origin,  naming  their  towns  Kent,  Ashland,  and  Lebanon. 

Of  eighteen  early  governors  of  Wisconsin,  four  were  born 
in  Connecticut,  whose  pioneers  were  not  apt  to  stop  in 
Indiana,  for  the  southern  element  was  strong  there,  and  the 
Virginian  and  Kentuckian  were  in  danger  of  confusing  the 
unscrupulous  Yankee  peddler  with  the  substantial  Yankee 
farmer,  treating  both  alike. 


2o6  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

Connecticut  people  usually  knew  exactly  whither  they 
were  going,  and  they  moved  in  large  numbers  to  Long  Is- 
land, New  Jersey,  New  York,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Michigan.  The  school  system  of 
Michigan  was  carried  bodily  to  Wisconsin.  They  were 
great  movers,  and  at  Collinsville,  Illinois,  opposite  St.  Louis, 
the  three  Collins  brothers  from  Litchfield  established  a 
town  in  1817.  They  used  the  same  horse-power  for  a 
distillery,  sawmill,  cooper-shop,  blacksmith  and  carpenter 
shop;  built,  in  181 8,  a  union  meeting-house,  which  was  also 
used  as  public  school  and  Sunday  School,  and  their  father 
became  the  first  substantial  contributor  to  Illinois  College. 
From  1676,  to  17 13,  Connecticut  expanded  more  rapidly 
and  emigrated  more  widely  than  any  other  New  England 
colony,  and  the  descendants  of  this  state  are  found  from 
New  Hampshire  to  Michigan. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
EDUCATION 

SINCE  the  leaders  in  the  settlement  of  Connecticut  were 
men  of  trained  intelligence  and  energy,  they  began  as 
soon  as  possible  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  school  system, 
and  Hartford  was  three  years  old  when  John  Higginson 
opened  a  school  there.  There  must  have  been  a  school  in 
New  Haven  that  year,  for  a  record  of  the  Court  says  that 
Thomas  Fugill  was  required  to  keep  Charles  Higginson 
at  school  for  one  year.  Christmas,  1641,  New  Haven 
colony  ordered  that  a  free  school  be  started  in  town,  and 
John  Davenport  was  requested  to  ascertain  the  amount  of 
money  which  would  be  required  to  support  it,  and  to  draw 
up  rules  for  it.  In  1644,  ^^e  legislature  of  Connecticut 
estabHshed  a  school  system,  and  Lord  Macaulay,  in  a  famous 
address  in  Parliament  in  1847,  eulogized  the  fact  that 
"exiles  living  in  the  wilderness  should  grasp  and  practice 
the  principle  that  the  state  should  take  upon  itself  the  educa- 
tion of  the  people."  As  in  all  the  other  colonies  there  was 
need  of  schools,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  people  had 
little  education  when  they  came  hither,  and  some  of  the 
most  active  of  the  proprietors  could  not  write  their  names. 
Eight  of  the  first  thirty-five  that  settled  Norwich,  as  ap- 
pears from  inspection  of  deeds  and  conveyances,  affixed 
their  marks,  yet  among  them  were  townsmen,  deacons,  and 
constables. 

The  mode  adopted  was  like  that  with  which  the  colo- 

207 


2o8  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

nists  had  been  familiar  in  England — the  method  of  town 
control — and  the  duty  was  laid  upon  the  local  authorities  to 
establish  schools,  and  to  work  with  parents  in  the  endeavor 
"not  to  suffer  so  much  barbarism  in  any  of  the  families  as  to 
have  a  single  child  or  apprentice  unable  to  read  the  holy 
word  of  God,  and  the  good  laws  of  the  colony ;  and  to  bring 
them  up  to  some  lawful  calling  or  employment."  Every 
town  of  fifty  families  was  required  to  maintain  a  school  in 
which  "reading  and  wrighting"  should  be  taught,  and  in 
every  town  of  one  hundred  households  a  grammar  school 
should  be  supported,  and  if  any  town  failed  to  have  a 
grammar  school  it  was  required  to  contribute  to  a  neighbor- 
ing school.  In  1658,  the  law  was  modified  to  read  thirty 
families  instead  of  fifty,  and  in  1672,  it  was  ordered  that  in 
place  of  the  requirement  that  there  should  be  a  grammar 
school  in  every  town  with  one  hundred  families,  every 
county  town  should  have  a  grammar  school,  with  teachers 
competent  to  prepare  for  college.  There  were  then  four 
county  towns,  Hartford,  New  Haven,  New  London,  and 
Fairfield,  and  the  law  continued  for  a  century  and  a  quarter. 
In  the  early  time  the  studies  were  few  but  the  terms  were 
long,  for  in  1677,  it  was  ordered  that  the  school  year  be  at 
least  nine  months  in  duration,  but  in  1690,  the  time  required 
was  reduced  to  six  months  in  a  year.  Evidently  the  laws 
to  promote  universal  education  were  evaded,  for  in  1690,  the 
legislature  passed  the  vote  that  since  there  were  "many 
persons  unable  to  read  the  English  tongue  ...  the  grand 
jury  men  in  each  towne  doe  once  in  the  year  at  least,  vissit 
each  famaly  they  susspect  to  neglect  this  order  .  .  .  and  if 
they  finde  any  such  children  and  servants  not  taught  as 
theire  yeares  are  capeable  of  .  .  .  they  shall  be  fyned  twenty 
shillings  for  each  offence."  There  was  the  beginning  of  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  education  in  Connecticut  in  1700, 
the  year  in  which  was  established  the  "Collegiate  School," 
which  became  Yale  College.  In  that  year  was  completed 
a  revision  of  the  laws,  in  which  it  was  ordered  that  every 


Edxication  209 

town  having  seventy  householders  should  have  "a  sufficient 
school  master  to  teach  children  and  youth  to  read  and  write, " 
and  this  school  should  be  in  session  for  eleven  months  in  the 
year;  also  that  every  town  with  a  less  number  than  seventy 
households  should  have  a  "sufficient  school  master  to  teach 
for  one  half  the  year."  The  first  mention  of  committees  is 
in  1702.  The  clergy,  authorized  by  the  legislature,  were 
the  committee,  visiting  the  schools  to  see  that  the  catechism 
was  thoroughly  learned  and  religion  drilled  in.  The  custom 
of  appointing  a  separate  school  committee  crystallized  into 
a  law  in  1750,  when  provision  was  made  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  such  officers. 

The  change  from  the  town  to  the  parish  system  was  made 
in  1 712,  when  it  was  enacted  that  all  the  parishes,  which 
were  already  made,  or  afterwards  should  be  made,  should  be 
provided  with  funds  for  maintaining  schools  within  their 
limits.  At  first  the  parishes  were  school  districts  of  the 
towns,  but  in  1760,  the  societies  began  to  organize  as 
educational  areas,  often  coterminous  with  towns.  As 
population  increased,  the  school  districts  multiplied,  and 
in  1776,  there  were  seventy- three  towns  and  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety  societies,  every  society  having  a  de- 
finite territory.  In  171 7,  societies  were  authorized  to 
choose  clerks  and  committees,  and  levy  taxes,  and  these 
powers  placed  them  on  nearly  the  same  footing  as  towns. 
In  1766,  it  was  enacted  that  "each  town  and  society 
shall  have  full  power  and  authority  to  divide  themselves 
into  proper  and  necessary  districts,,  for  keeping  their 
schools,  and  to  alter  and  regulate  the  same  from  time  to 
time  as  they  shall  have  occasion."  Another  step  was  taken 
in  1794,  when  it  was  enacted  that  "the  several  school 
districts  .  .  .  shall  have  power  and  authority  to  tax  them- 
selves for  the  purpose  of  building  and  repairing  a  school 
house  ...  to  choose  a  clerk  .  .  .  and  to  appoint  a  col- 
lector." From  1797,  to  1839,  committees  were  appointed  for 
the  districts  by  the  town  or  society,  after  that  they  appointed 
14 


210  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

their  own  committees.  A  law  passed  in  1795,  referred  to  the 
parishes  or  ecclesiastical  societies  "in  their  capacity  of  school 
societies,"  giving  for  the  first  time  this  title,  and  in  1798, 
the  care  of  schools  was  transferred  entirely  from  the  towns  to 
the  school  societies,  with  which  it  remained  till  1856,  when 
towns  chose  their  system.  During  that  period  a  school 
society  might  include  a  whole  town,  a  part  of  a  town,  or 
parts  of  two  or  more  towns,  and  all  the  business  concerning 
schools  was  under  its  care.  This  system  came  about 
naturally,  for  the  original  towns  were  very  large.  After  a 
time  the  dwellers  in  new  communities  petitioned  for  per- 
mission to  form  new  parishes,  and  it  was  found  convenient 
to  manage  the  schools  in  those  districts  through  the  church 
organization.  At  length  these  societies  became  separate 
towns,  and  thus  they  prepared  the  way  for  a  return  to  the 
town  method.  The  act  of  1798,  perfected  the  old  system; 
every  society  was  given  power  to  appoint  a  suitable  number 
of  persons  (not  to  exceed  nine)  to  be  visitors,  "to  examine, 
approve  and  dismiss  school  teachers,  and  appoint  public 
exercises."  County  towns  were  no  longer  required  to  main- 
tain a  Latin  school,  but  every  society  might  institute  a  school 
of  a  higher  order. 

Before  giving  an  account  of  the  later  development  of 
public  means  of  education,  we  must  speak  of  the  School 
Fund,  which  has  played  such  a  part  in  Connecticut  schools. 
The  funds  to  support  public  schools  have  been  derived  from 
several  sources — taxes,  tuition  fees,  and  the  income  of 
invested  funds.  Taxation  and  tuition  fees  were  resorted 
to  from  earliest  times,  the  first  school  in  New  Haven  being 
maintained  wholly  by  taxes.  Hartford  guaranteed  the 
teacher's  salary,  though  a  part,  if  not  the  whole,  was  expected 
from  tuition  fees,  the  town  making  up  any  deficiency,  and 
paying  for  those  who  were  unable  to  pay  for  themselves. 
The  code  of  1650,  provided  that  the  teachers'  "wages  shall 
be  paid  either  by  the  parents  or  masters  of  children,  or  by  the 
inhabitants  in  general."     The  New  Haven  code  of  1656, 


Bdxication  3II 

provided  that  one- third  be  paid  by  the  town  in  general, 
and  the  other  two- thirds  "by  them  who  have  benefite  there- 
of." In  1677,  a  new  step  was  taken  when  it  was  ordered 
that  the  teacher  should  be  paid  by  taxation,  "except  any 
town  shall  agree  upon  som  other  way  to  rayse  the  maynte- 
nance  of  him  they  shall  imploy  in  the  afoarsayd  worke." 
The  revision  of  1700,  ordered  that  a  tax  of  forty  shillings  to 
a  thousand  poimds  be  levied  on  all  property  for  schools, 
and  if  that  proved  insufficient,  one  half  of  the  deficit  should 
be  made  up  "by  the  inhabitants  of  such  town,  and  the  other 
half  by  the  parents  or  masters  of  the  children  that  go  to  the 
school."  This  law  remained  in  force  until  1820.  In  1754, 
the  rate  was  cut  from  forty  to  ten  shillings  on  the  thousand 
pounds.  In  1766,  it  was  raised  to  twenty  shillings,  then  to 
forty  shillings,  and  after  fifty  years  it  was  abolished.  In 
1837,  Connecticut  received  from  the  United  States  Treasury 
$763,661,  its  share  of  the  Town  Deposit  Fund. 

There  are  special  invested  funds  as  sources  of  income, 
and  the  first  of  these  was  the  gift  of  Edward  Hopkins  to 
Hartford  and  New  Haven,  and  of  Robert  Bartlett  of  New 
London,  funds  used  for  schools  of  a  high  order.  A  large 
part  of  the  funds  belonging  to  towns  and  societies  was  de- 
rived from  the  Western  Lands  so  called,  in  the  northwestern 
comer  of  the  state.  When  Sir  Edmimd  Andros  was  endeav- 
oring to  obtain  control  of  the  colony,  a  special  session  of  the 
legislature  was  held  January  26,  1687,  to  take  measures  to 
defeat  Sir  Edmund's  purposes,  and  the  public  lands,  that  had 
not  been  previously  sold  or  granted,  were  disposed  of  at  that 
session,  and  more  than  half  of  what  is  now  Litchfield  County 
was  given  to  Hartford  and  Windsor.  After  the  Andros 
trouble  was  over,  those  towns  proceeded  to  sell  the  lands, 
and  of  course  a  controversy  arose  between  them  and  the 
colony,  and  this  contest  continued  until  1731,  when  it  was 
decided  to  divide  the  land  into  two  parts,  and  have  the 
colony  take  the  western  half  and  the  towns  the  eastern. 
In  1733,  the  colony  ordered  that  the  seven  towns,  into  which 


212  jfii.  History  of  Connecticxit 

the  western  territory  was  divided,  be  sold,  and  the  money 
received  for  them  be  given  to  the  towns  already  settled, 
according  to  the  polls  and  ratable  estates,  to  be  set  apart 
by  each  town  as  a  permanent  fund.  It  is  not  known  how 
much  was  realized  by  the  sale,  but  Salisbury  was  sold  for 
nearly  seven  thousand  pounds,  and  Kent  for  more  than 
twelve  hundred.  Another  source  of  school  funds  was  from 
an  act  passed  in  1766,  granting  the  arrears  of  excise  on 
liquors,  tea,  and  other  goods,  but  the  main  school  fund  was 
gained  by  the  sale  of  lands  in  Ohio.  As  stated  elsewhere 
the  charter  of  Charles  II.,  in  1662,  conveyed  a  tract  extending 
from  Narragansett  Bay  on  the  east  to  the  South  Sea  on  the 
west.  In  1 68 1,  Charles  II.  gave  to  William  Penn  the  charter 
of  Pennsylvania,  the  northern  part  of  which  had  been  given 
to  Connecticut.  After  emigration  had  made  the  territory 
valuable,  Connecticut  asserted  her  claim;  in  1774,  and 
for  eight  years  after,  the  settlers  on  the  Susquehanna  sent 
representatives  to  the  Connecticut  legislature,  established 
schools,  and  paid  taxes  like  other  citizens  of  the  state.  The 
controversy  over  that  region  was  decided  in  1782,  in  favor 
of  Pennsylvania.  Though  the  title  of  Connecticut  to  lands 
west  of  Pennsylvania  had  never  been  questioned,  and  it 
was  not  practicable  to  attempt  to  control  a  slender  strip  of 
land,  only  seventy  miles  wide  and  extending  nearly  one 
eighth  of  the  circumference  of  the  globe,  in  1786  the  General 
Assembly  authorized  the  delegates  in  Congress  to  convey 
to  the  United  States  all  lands  belonging  to  Connecticut, 
lying  west  of  a  line  parallel  to,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  west  of,  Pennsylvania.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and 
the  lands  within  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  of  Pennsyl- 
vania became  known  as  the  Western  Reserve  and  sometimes 
as  the  New  Con?iecticut. 

In  1792,  the  General  Assembly  granted  a  tract  of  five 
hundred  thousand  acres,  extending  across  the  western  end 
of  the  reservation  as  a  compensation  for  the  losses  inflicted 
by  the  British  army  in  the  Revolution  on  the  towns  along 


Edvication  213 

the  Sound,  from  Greenwich  to  Groton.  The  tract  thus  given 
was  afterwards  called  the  Fire  Lands  or  the  Suferers'  Lands. 
In  1793,  a  committee  of  one  from  every  county  was  appointed 
to  sell  those  lands,  and  then  came  a  warm  discussion  as  to 
what  should  be  done  with  the  proceeds.  In  1795,  it  was 
voted  to  put  the  money  into  a  permanent  fund  for  the  use 
of  schools,  and  under  the  control  of  the  people  in  the  different 
school  societies;  a  few  months  later,  the  land  was  sold  for 
one  million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  payable  in  five 
years.  Interest  was  allowed  to  accumulate  until  1799,  when 
sixty  thousand  dollars  was  distributed  on  the  basis  of  polls 
and  ratable  estates.  In  1800,  the  care  of  the  fund  was 
assigned  to  a  commission  of  four,  whose  unfitness  threatened 
the  fund,  and  James  Hillhouse  was  appointed  commissioner 
of  it.  In  fifteen  years  it  rose  to  one  million  seven  hundred 
and  nineteen  thousand  dollars,  and  more  than  three-quarters 
of  a  million  had  been  divided  among  the  school  societies. 
The  effect  of  this  annual  distribution  of  fifty  or  sixty  thou- 
sand dollars  was  injurious  in  most  towns,  for  it  led  to  a 
decreasing  taxation  for  the  schools  and  a  decrease  of  interest 
in  education,  and  since  High  Schools  were  no  longer  obliga- 
tory, they  were  seldom  organized.  The  state  allowance 
of  two  dollars  on  every  thousand  raised  by  the  towns  was 
a  feeble  spur;  in  many  towns  the  stipend  from  the  School 
Fund  was  doled  out  at  a  starvation  rate,  giving  a  few  weeks 
in  winter  and  a  short  term  in  summer,  and  when  the  money 
was  gone  the  door  of  the  schoolhouse  was  locked.  A  short- 
sighted economy  possessed  the  state,  and  since  the  schools 
cost  little  they  were  slightly  esteemed  and  rapidly  de- 
clined. They  had  been  the  pride  of  the  state  and  the 
wonder  of  the  land,  and  for  a  time  after  they  waned,  some 
who  looked  at  them  from  afar  applauded.  A  Kentucky 
legislator  declared  in  1822,  "The  Connecticut  system  has 
become  an  example  for  other  states,  and  the  admiration  of 
the  Union."  The  schools  grew  poorer;  schoolhouses  more  di- 
lapidated ;  the  earlier  method  of  having  six  months'  and  even 


214  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

eleven  months'  schooling  in  a  year  gave  way  to  the  limit  of 
the  elasticity  of  the  meager  public  money,  which  for  forty 
years  was  distributed  on  no  other  condition  than  that  it 
should  be  used  for  schools.  There  was  a  spasm  of  awakening 
interest  now  and  then;  a  bill  was  passed  in  1810,  which 
provided  that  the  expense  of  the  district  schools,  above  that 
received  from  the  School  Fund,  should  be  met  by  a  tax  on 
each  proprietor  according  to  the  number  of  days  his  pupil 
or  pupils  attended  school.  In  18 13,  a  bill  passed  the  legisla- 
ture to  compel  proprietors  of  factories  to  have  all  working 
for  them  trained  to  read,  write,  and  cipher,  with  a  glance 
at  theif  morals,  in  which  the  selectmen  were  to  help. 

Fervid  imagination  and  Yankee  pride  have  combined  to 
halo  the  Little  Red  Schoolhouse  with  a  glory  mingled  with 
sentimental  pathos;  and  there  have  been  in  some  of  them 
teachers  of  power  and  inspiration,  who  would  have  taught 
just  as  well  had  they  been  paid  according  to  their  deserts, 
and  if  the  schoolhouses  had  been  less  meagerly  furnished. 
At  length,  public  sentiment  awoke,  and  in  1830,  a  convention 
of  teachers  complained  of  the  indifference  of  parents;  in 
1836,  Governor  Edwards  deplored  the  quality  of  the  teach- 
ers, and  in  1838,  school  conditions  were  investigated,  with 
the  result  that  the  citizens  were  declared  to  be  lacking  in 
interest,  school  visitors  neglectful,  and  teachers  inefficient. 
Wage  of  men  teachers  was  fourteen  and  a  half  dollars  per 
month,  and  of  women  five  and  -  three-quarters.  More  than 
six  thousand  children  of  school  ages  were  not  in  attendance. 
Changes  for  the  better  rapidly  followed  the  report:  a  bill 
for  the  better  supervision  was  passed ;  the  Connecticut 
Common  School  Journal  was  foimded ;  in  1849,  a  state  normal 
school  was  established  in  New  Britain  under  the  auspices 
of  Henry  Barnard,  who  was  aided  by  the  cooperation  of 
Mrs.  Emma  Hart  Willard.  In  1855,  a  vote  was  passed  to 
enable  a  town  to  have  a  school  of  a  higher  grade;  in  1865, 
the  state  board  of  education  was  organized,  and  in  1868,  the 
town  tax  was  increased  enough  to  make  schools  free.    The 


Edvication  215 

length  of  school  required  as  the  condition  for  obtaining  the 
public  money  was  fixed  at  four  months  in  1841,  six  months 
in  1855,  and  in  1870,  it  was  voted  that  public  schools  be 
maintained  for  at  least  thirty  weeks  in  a  year  in  every  school 
district  in  which  the  number  of  pupils  between  four  and 
sixteen  was  twenty-four  or  more,  and  for  twenty-four  weeks 
in  all  others,  but  that  there  should  be  no  schools  in  districts 
in  which  the  number  of  children  fell  below  eight  pupils. 

In  1839,  the  powers  of  the  school  districts  were  greatly 
enlarged,  and  they  were  declared  bodies  corporate,  so  far  as 
to  be  able  to  purchase,  receive,  hold,  and  convey  property, 
and  make  all  lawful  arrangements  for  the  management  of 
schools  such  as  taxation,  providing  rooms,  and  employing 
teachers.  In  1866-69,  it  was  voted  that  any  town  might 
abolish  all  school  districts  and  maintain  a  central  school — 
an  entering  wedge  for  the  act  of  1909,  which  declared  that 
after  July  of  that  year,  every  town  must  be  a  school  district, 
with  a  committee  having  the  power  of  district  committee 
and  school  visitors,  except  in  a  few  towns  organized  under 
special  acts  of  the  legislature.  Thus  there  was  a  return  to 
the  early  town  management.  In  1897,  it  was  voted  that  any 
town  in  which  a  High  School  was  not  maintained,  should 
pay  the  whole  or  part  of  the  tuition  fee  of  any  child  residing 
with  his  parents  in  said  town,  and  should  have  the  written 
consent  of  the  school  visitors  or  committee  to  attend  a  High 
School  in  another  town.  In  1905,  a  law  was  passed  requiring 
a  committee  or  visitors,  discovering  any  child  over  fourteen 
and  under  sixteen  with  insufficient  schooling,  to  notify  the 
parents  or  guardians,  who  should  cause  him  to  attend  school. 
In  1907,  it  was  voted  by  the  Assembly  that  any  town  may 
direct  the  visitors,  committee,  or  board  of  education  to  pur- 
chase, at  the  expense  of  the  town,  text-books  and  other 
supplies  used  in  the  public  schools,  to  be  loaned  to  the  pupils 
free  of  charge.  Ten  years  before,  it  was  voted  that  towns 
should  supply  pupils  incapable  of  buying  books.  Of  late 
years  much  attention  has  been  given   to   the  subject  of 


2i6  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

libraries  in  the  schools,  and  the  state  appropriates  certain 
sums  of  money  to  them,  on  condition  that  the  towns  do 
their  part.  There  are  also  loan  libraries  in  circulation.  It 
was  voted  in  1909,  that  a  town  shall  insist,  by  transportation 
or  otherwise,  on  schooling  for  every  child  over  seven  and 
under  sixteen.  Provision  has  also  been  made  of  late  for 
the  medical  examination  of  children,  and  it  has  been 
ordered  that  hygiene,  including  the  effect  of  alcohol  on 
health  and  character,  shall  be  taught  as  a  regular  branch 
of  study. 

In  no  other  state  is  there  a  more  rigid  enforcement  of 
attendance  and  employment  laws.  Rural  supervision  is 
of  decided  service  in  country  towns.  The  passing  of  the 
corporate  districts  into  the  town  system  is  a  long  step  in 
advance.  There  are  manual  training  departments  in  some 
High  Schools,  and  in  1907,  fifty  thousand  dollars  was 
appropriated  for  trade  schools,  committing  the  state  to 
the  policy  of  public  instruction  in  trades.  Among  the 
New  England  states  Connecticut  is  second  to  no  other  in 
liberal  provision  for  education;  the  school  fund  of  more 
than  two  millions,  with  an  annual  income  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  thousand  dollars,  ceased  long  ago  to  pro- 
voke a  false  economy,  and  is  a  decided  benefit.  The 
Normal  Schools  at  Danbury,  New  Britain,  New  Haven,  and 
Willimantic  have  a  total  of  nearly  eight  hundred  pupils, 
and  graduate  annually  nearly  three  hundred  teachers, 
though  this  does  not  supply  the  waste.  The  purpose  of 
the  Trade  Schools  is  to  "equip  that  large  number  of  children 
who  must  work  in  the  skilled  trades  with  the  primary  es- 
sentials and  practical  principles  of  their  trades,"  and  the 
demand  for  this  education  far  exceeds  the  facilities  of  the 
schools  now  in  operation  in  Bridgeport  and  in  New  Britain. 
There  are  classes  both  in  the  day  and  evening,  and  the 
subjects  treated  are :  machine  work,  carpentry  work,  pattern 
making,  sewing,  including  dressmaking,  printing,  plumbing, 
and  drawing.    Evening  schools  are  conducted  in  forty  towns, 


Edvication  217 

with  a  registration  of  over  ten  thousand  pupils,  and  the 
number  attending  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  kinder- 
gartens is  over  eleven  thousand.  In  ninety-one  towns 
children  are  conveyed  to  a  central  school  with  general 
satisfaction  to  all  concerned.  The  elimination  of  the  district 
system,  referred  to  on  an  earlier  page,  is  a  return  to  the 
early  town  management  of  schools,  and  hastens  the  escape 
from  the  antiquated  conservatism,  the  penurious  extrava- 
gance of  the  district  school  system,  which  seemed  necessary 
for  the  time,  but  is  now  as  much  out  of  date  as  are  stage- 
coaches and  spinning-wheels.  An  elaborate  system  of 
supervision  has  been  organized  by  grouping  towns,  and 
thirty-four  supervisors  are  at  work,  responsible  to  the  state 
board  of  education;  besides  these  many  towns  have  their 
own  supervisors.  This  tends  to  greater  efficiency.  It  is 
coming  to  be  recognized  by  the  intelligent  that  local  manage- 
ment in  districts  is  apt  to  be  attended  by  injustice  and 
injury  to  pupils;  that  many  do  not  receive  adequate  atten- 
tion, when  several  grades  gather  in  a  miserable  room,  with 
antiquated  equipment,  underpaid  teachers,  and  an  imscien- 
tific  and  haphazard  course  of  studies.  The  movement  from 
the  condition  in  which  the  state  lingered  for  years  is  slow. 
In  a  hundred  towns  there  are  over  three  hundred  schools 
with  an  average  attendance  of  less  than  twelve.  Changes 
come  gradually  in  the  land  of  steady  habits.  The  vigorous 
community  life,  so  prominent  in  the  towns,  which  in  some 
ways  have  been  little  commonwealths,  has  fostered  a  con- 
servatism, if  not  a  self-satisfaction,  which  sometimes  fails  to 
see  that  methods,  which  were  the  only  ones  available  in  the 
sparsely  settled  colony,  have  been  outgrown,  and  that  the 
schools  need  to  be  standardized  in  grades,  studies,  and  books, 
for  the  sake  of  efficiency,  economy,  and  the  easy  passage  of 
pupils  from  school  to  school.  The  recent  complete  change 
of  system,  the  valuable  work  of  the  state  board  of  educa- 
tion and  the  deepening  interest  are  putting  Connecticut  into 
the  front  ranks  in  public  school  education. 


2i8  A  History  of  Connecticut 

We  pass  now  to  the  history  of  the  instruction  in  the 
public  schools.  In  early  times  they  were  primitive,  and 
were  taught  in  the  winter  by  men,  and  the  larger  boys 
attended,  and  sometimes  matched  their  strength  with  the 
master's;  the  summer  schools  were  attended  only  by  the 
younger  children,  and  were  taught  by  women  and  girls. 
The  seats  were  hard;  the  desks  rude,  but  elaborately  deco- 
rated by  the  versatile  jackknife.  Until  the  Revolution, 
about  the  only  books  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils  were  the 
Bible,  the  New  England  Primer,  with  its  doleful  pictures, 
and  the  spelling-book.  The  younger  children  had  the 
famous  "horn-book,"  shaped  somewhat  like  a  fan;  it  was  a 
thin  board  with  a  handle,  and  through  the  horn  which 
covered  the  board  there  could  be  seen  the  alphabet  and 
Lord's  Prayer.  Arithmetic  to  the  "Rule  of  Three"  was 
taught,  and  the  one  text-book  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
teacher,  who  dictated  rules  and  examples  from  it.  The 
first  geography  for  schools  was  not  published  until  1784. 
There  were  no  maps  or  charts  or  blackboards.  English 
grammar  received  scanty  attention,  and  it  would  seem  that 
the  spelling-book  was  neglected,  judging  from  the  ingenious 
literary  samples  that  have  come  down  to  us,  of  which  we 
may  take  as  a  fair  specimen  the  indorsement  on  Governor 
Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth  Colony  by  his  grandson, 
Samuel  Bradford,  which  reads  as  follows: 

This  book  was  rit  by  goefner  William  Bradford,  and  gifen  to 
his  son  mager  John  Bradford,  rit  by  me  Samuel  Bradford, 
Mach.  20,  1705. 

Teachers  wrote  copies  for  penmanship  and  mended  the 
goose-quills.  There  is  an  interesting  letter  from  President 
Humphrey  to  Henry  Barnard  concerning  schools  between 
1790,  and  1800,  in  which  he  says: 

Our  school  books  were  the  Bible  and  Webster's  Spelling  Book; 
one  or  two  others  were  found  in  some  schools  for  the  reading 


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Education  219 

classes — grammar  was  hardly  taught  at  all  in  any  of  them,  and 
that  little  was  confined  almost  entirely  to  committing  and 
reciting  rules.  Parsing  was  one  of  the  occult  sciences  of  my  day; 
we  had  some  few  lessons  in  geography  by  questions  and  answers, 
but  no  maps,  no  globes,  and  as  for  blackboards,  such  a  thing 
was  not  thought  of  until  long  after.  Children's  reading  and 
picturebooks  we  had  none,  the  fables  in  Webster's  Spelling  Book 
came  nearest  to  them.  Arithmetic  was  hardly  taught  at  all 
in  the  day  schools;  as  a  substitute,  there  were  some  evening 
schools  in  most  of  the  districts.  Spelling  was  one  of  the  exer- 
cises in  most  of  the  districts. 

A  very  early  book  was  the  Dilworth  speller,  an  English 
work,  with  many  terms  not  fitted  to  American  life.  It  was 
an  epoch  in  education  when,  in  1783,  appeared  the  first  of 
a  series  of  three  books  by  Noah  Webster.     He  wrote: 

In  the  year  1782,  while  the  American  army  was  lying  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson,  I  kept  a  classical  school  in  Goshen,  N.  Y.  I 
there  compiled  two  small  elementary  books  for  teaching  the 
English  language.  The  country  was  impoverished,  intercourse 
with  Great  Britain  was  interrupted,  school  books  were  scarce 
and  scarcely  obtainable,  and  there  was  no  certain  prospect  of 
peace. 

The  first  of  Webster's  school-books  to  appear  was  the  speller, 
through  which  the  author  gave  to  the  country  a  uniform 
language.  It  sold  in  such  numbers  that,  by  1847,  twenty- 
four  million  copies  had  been  disposed  of,  and  by  1870,  forty 
millions.  In  1785,  Webster  issued  a  grammar,  and  in  1787, 
a  reader.  Another  school-book  by  a  Connecticut  man  was 
a  geography  published  by  Jedediah  Morse  of  Woodstock 
in  1784 — the  first  of  its  kind  in  America;  in  1789,  he 
issued  a  valuable  work  called  the  American  Geography  and, 
in  1 8 12,  there  appeared  an  encyclopedia  of  knowledge  by 
the  same  author.  In  one  of  his  geographies  Morse  said  of 
the  trans-Mississippi  region,  "It  has  been  supposed  that  all 
settlers  who  go  beyond  the  Mississippi  will  be  forever  lost 


220  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

to  the  United  States."  In  1827,  Jesse  Olney  of  Union 
published  his  Atlas-Geography,  which  was  popular  through 
the  country,  with  a  circulation  of  eighty  thousand  copies. 
In  1796,  Thomas  Hubbard  of  Norwich  published  an  intro- 
duction to  arithmetic  for  use  in  the  public  schools,  in  the 
preface  of  which  is  a  statement  which  must  have  cheered 
the  young  folks,  for  he  said,  "I  have  omitted  fractions,  not 
because  I  think  them  useless,  but  because  they  are  not 
absolutely  necessary."  The  most  widely  used  arithmetic 
was  by  Daboll,  who  was  bom  in  Groton  in  1750.  This  work, 
called  The  Schoolmaster's  Assistant,  stood  for  years  in  the 
front  rank  with  Webster's  Speller.  A  new  era  in  the  study 
of  Latin  was  created  by  Ethan  A.  Andrews,  a  native  of  New 
Britain,  by  his  Latin-English  lexicon  and  his  text-books;  so 
complete  and  scholarly  was  his  work  that  the  lexicon  be- 
came a  standard,  and  the  First  Lessons  in  Latin  reached 
thirty-four  editions. 

The  education  of  girls  was  for  years  as  scanty  as  that  for 
boys,  and  in  the  second  generation  there  were  daughters 
of  men  in  important  positions  who  could  not  write  their 
names,  though  in  many  towns  the  schoolmistress  taught 
the  children  to  behave,  ply  the  needle  through  the  mysteries 
of  hemming,  overhand,  stitching,  and  darning,  up  to  the 
sampler,  and  to  read  from  spelling-book  to  the  Psalter; 
laying  emphasis  on  sitting  up  straight,  conquering  the  spell- 
ing-book, never  telling  a  lie,  and  being  mannerly,  especially 
to  the  minister,  whose  monthly  round  to  catechize  gave  him 
an  opportunity  to  chide  the  careless.  Punishments  were 
severe,  and  some  fathers  repeated  at  home  the  strokes 
given  in  school.  A  famous  New  London  teacher  had  two 
strips  of  board,  joined  together  by  a  hinge,  in  which  the 
fingers  of  mischievous  children  were  pinched,  and  the  birch 
was  a  favorite  form  of  torture, — a  good  training  for  torment- 
ing witches,  and  suggestive  attendants  of  a  stern  theology. 

The  decadence  of  the  public  schools  after  the  Revolution 
led  to  the  forming  of  many  private  schools,  usually  called 


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education  221 

academies,  a  name  probably  borrowed  from  an  essay  pub- 
lished by  Franklin  in  1749,  and  Franklin  says  that  he  was 
indebted  to  Defoe,  who,  in  1697,  had  urged  the  building  of 
schools  like  the  academies  of  France  and  Spain.  The  old 
academy  at  Lebanon  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  schools, 
which  for  half  a  century  furnished  the  highest  education 
that  three-fourths  of  the  young  men  received.  One  of  the 
earliest  and  best  of  these  was  the  school  at  Greenfield  Hill, 
conducted  by  Timothy  Dwight,  1783-96,  and  it  was  one  of 
the  earliest  coeducational  schools  in  the  country.  Acade- 
mies differed  from  the  High  School  in  that  they  were  designed 
for  all  the  young  people  in  the  neighborhood,  gathering 
picked  boys  and  girls  from  twenty  towns  and  often  at 
greatest  sacrifice;  going  to  school  for  study  there  was  little 
difficulty  in  maintaining  discipline.  The  grammar  school 
in  Fairfield  was  succeeded  in  1781,  by  the  Staples  Acad- 
emy, and  three  years  later  the  first  academy  in  Windham 
County  was  chartered  for  Plainfield;  in  181 6,  it  had  a  fund 
of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-four  dollars,  with  eighty  pupils. 
Not  to  be  outdone  by  her  neighbor,  an  academy  was  char- 
tered for  Woodstock  in  1802,  and  built  by  the  voluntary  sub- 
scriptions and  labor  of  neighbors;  a  fund  of  ten  thousand 
dollars  was  secured,  putting  the  school  on  a  firm  basis.  In 
1802,  the  Berlin  Academy  was  incorporated,  and  eleven 
years  later,  the  Bacon  Academy  at  Colchester,  thirty-six 
thousand  dollars  being  raised  and  a  "very  beautiful  building" 
of  three  stories  erected.  In  1816,  it  had  two  hundred 
pupils.     In  1806,  Noah  Webster  wrote: 

Many  academies  are  maintained  by  private  funds.  In  these  are 
taught  primary  branches  and  geography,  grammar,  languages, 
and  higher  mathematics.  There  are  also  academies  for  young 
ladies  in  which  are  taught  the  additional  branches  of  needle- 
work, drawing  and  embroidery.  Among  the  academies  of  the 
first  reputation  are  one  in  Plainfield  and  the  Bacon  Academy. 
The  most  distinguished  schools  for  young  ladies  are  the  Union 
School  in  New  Haven  and  the  school  in  Litchfield. 


222  j\  History  of  Connecticvit 

In  1806,  an  academy  was  incorporated  in  Stratford;  in  18 16, 
Wallingford  had  one,  teaching  Latin,  Greek,  and  Enghsh; 
in  1 8 14,  the  Danbury  Academy  was  incorporated;  in  1821, 
the  Fairfield;  in  1823,  the  Goshen  Academy;  in  1825, 
the  school  at  Madison,  succeeded  in  1886,  by  the  Hand 
Academy.  In  181 7,  there  was  formed  an  academy  at 
Wilton,  which  became  famous  under  the  Olmsteads;  in  1829, 
Greenwich  and  Tolland  followed  the  fashion;  Brooklyn  in 
1830,  and  Saybrook  three  years  later. 

A  pioneer  in  academies  for  girls  was  the  school  taught 
by  Sarah  Pierce  in  Litchfield,  which  began  in  1792,  and 
during  nearly  forty  years  it  trained  over  fifteen  hundred  pupils ; 
the  building  is  gone  but  it  is  claimed  that  this  was  the  first 
school  for  girls  in  the  United  States.  Hartford  Female 
Seminary  was  incorporated  in  1827,  and  so  popular  was  it 
under  Catharine  Beecher  that  it  had  at  times  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pupils  from  outside  the  state.  We  have  spoken  of 
academies  for  girls  at  Litchfield  and  New  Haven;  Norwich 
also  formed  one,  and  in  1799,  an  academy  for  girls  was  in- 
corporated in  New  London.  Nathan  Hale,  a  hero  of  the 
Revolution,  taught  in  New  London  in  a  school  incorporated 
in  1774,  and  he  wrote  his  uncle  that  he  had  twenty  young 
ladies  in  his  school  from  five  to  seven  in  the  morning,  and 
thirty-two  boys  through  the  day.  The  Goodrich  School 
in  Norwich  was  popular  for  years.  A  school  for  girls  was 
opened  in  Farmington  in  1846,  by  Sarah  Porter,  who  for 
more  than  half  a  century  was  a  vital  force  for  culture  and 
philanthropy.  The  Golden  Hill  Seminary  of  Bridgeport, 
Grove  Hall  at  New  Haven,  Windsor  Female  Seminary  at 
Windsor,  and  St.  Margaret's  at  Waterbury  have  had  wide 
repute.  Academies  continued  to  form  through  the  nine- 
teenth century — the  Brainerd  Academy  at  Haddam  in 
1839;  one  in  Durham  in  1842;  the  Parker  in  Woodbury 
in  1 851;  the  famous  Wauramaug  at  New  Preston  in 
1852.  In  1700,  Norwich  was  indicted  by  the  grand  jury 
for   "failing   to   maintain   a   school   to   instruct,"    though 


.5    P^ 


o 


Education  323 

there  were  schools  enough;  districts  running  riot  with 
forty  school  organizations;  in  1854,  ^^e  Norwich  Free 
Academy  was  incorporated,  and  later,  J.  F.  Slater  gave  a 
building,  costing  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars, 
together  with  other  funds.  The  Connecticut  Literary 
Institute  was  established  in  Suffield  in  1835;  three  years 
later,  the  Betts  Academy  was  started  at  Stamford,  and  soon 
afterwards  the  Black  Hall  School  at  Lyme  was  organized. 
The  Gunnery  at  Washington  has  had  a  noted  history :  Fred- 
erick W.  Gunn  graduated  from  Yale  in  1837,  and  went  back 
to  his  native  town  and  opened  a  school,  but  his  abolition 
views  called  down  the  thunder  of  the  pulpit  and  the  excom- 
munication of  the  church;  forced  to  leave  town,  he  went  to 
Pennsylvania,  whence  he  returned  to  Washington  in  1847, 
and  reopened  the  Gunnery,  a  unique  and  famous  school. 
The  personality  of  the  founder  was  strong  and  positive,  and 
the  methods  of  discipline  original.  A  boy  caught  smoking 
swallowed  an  emetic,  and  a  pupil  who  plunged  a  cat  in  water 
was  soused  in  the  same  element. 

It  is  not  easy  to  give  the  names  of  all  the  academies  that 
did  so  much  for  the  young  people  of  the  state  during  that 
dreary  half  century  when  the  Connecticut  public  schools 
were  passing  through  their  dark  ages.  Many  are  held  in 
affectionate  remembrance,  such  as  the  Emerson  School  in 
Wethersfield,  the  Hart  School  in  Farmington,  and  the  Wood- 
stock Academy.  They  were  feeders  of  Yale,  trainers  of 
many  useful  men  and  women,  and  sources  of  intelligence 
and  power  in  scores  of  communities.  There  were  also  a  few 
denominational  schools  of  decided  value,  such  as  the  Epis- 
copal Academy  of  Connecticut,  founded  at  Cheshire  in 
1 794,  with  Principal  Bowdin  who  had  charge  of  the  educa- 
tion of  Gideon  Welles  and  Admiral  Foote.  In  1865,  the 
Seabury  Institute  was  incorporated  in  Saybrook.  Roman 
Catholic  schools  came  late,  since  the  population  of  the 
earlier  times  was  Protestant;  the  School  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Notre  Dame  being  opened  in  Waterbury  in   1869,   the 


224  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

Seminary  of  Saint  Joseph  in  Hartford  in  1873,  and  the 
Academy  of  the  Holy  Family,  a  coeducational  institution, 
in  Baltic  in  1874. 

-Though  academies  were  so  valuable  and  so  popular  that 
as  many  as  ten  thousand  young  people  were  at  times  in 
them,  it  was  at  length  seen  that  more  ample  provision 
should  be  made  for  higher  education,  and  on  July  4,  1838, 
it  was  voted  to  establish  a  free  High  School  in  Hartford, 
twelve  thousand  dollars  being  appropriated.  The  first 
building  was  on  the  comer  of  Asylum  and  Ann  streets, 
and  with  it  was  incorporated  a  grammar  school;  a  building 
large  enough  for  three  hundred  pupils.  Other  cities  soon 
had  High  Schools:  Middletown  in  1841,  New  Britain  in 
1850,  New  Haven  in  1859,  Bridgeport  in  1876,  Meriden  in 
1 88 1,  and  Bristol  in  1887.  Academies  were  not  set  aside 
entirely  by  High  Schools ;  many  of  the  older  ones  continue. 
Schools  of  another  class  are  forming:  such  as  the  Bulkley 
School  in  Meriden  in  1881,  the  Mystic  English  and  Class- 
ical School,  the  Hotchkiss  and  Taconic  schools  in  Lakeville, 
the  Westover  School  in  Middlebury,  the  Williams  Memorial 
Institute,  the  Gilbert  School  at  Winsted,  and  Westminster 
School  at  Simsbury. 

Connecticut  has  done  much  for  education  outside  the 
state,  both  in  establishing  schools  of  a  high  grade,  and  also 
in  writing  school-books.  The  most  original  and  effective 
woman  the  state  has  produced  is  Mrs.  Emma  Hart  Willard, 
who  was  bom  in  Berlin  in  1787,  and  after  considerable 
experience  as  a  teacher,  published  in  1818,  a  Plan  for  Improv- 
ing Female  Education,  a  work  which  in  1819,  led  to  the 
adoption  by  the  New  York  legislature  of  the  first  provision 
for  the  higher  education  of  women  ever  passed  by  any 
legislature,  and  to  the  incorporation  in  1821,  of  the  Willard 
School  in  Troy,  from  which  have  gone  thousands  of  well- 
equipped  women,  under  whose  influences  have  been  formed, 
largely  in  the  South,  two  hundred  similar  schools.  In  an- 
other department  of  education  Mrs.  Willard  and  her  sister, 


j<«2S*»% 


Emma  Hart  Willard  (1787- 1870) 


From  an  Old  Print 


Edvication  225 

Mrs.  Almira  Phelps,  who  has  been  associated  with  her, 
have  been  of  decided  service,  publishing  school-books  in 
geography,  history,  and  science. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  Henry  Barnard,  who  was 
born  in  Hartford  in  181 1.  After  graduating  from  Yale 
in  1830,  and  teaching  a  short  time,  he  went  to  Europe  and 
studied  European  methods  of  education,  devoting  himself 
to  the  task  of  gaining  a  wide  knowledge,  not  only  of  public 
schools,  but  also  of  the  treatment  of  the  insane  and  of 
criminals.  In  1838,  he  obtained  the  passage  of  a  bill  in  the 
General  Assembly  for  the  better  local  supervision  of  the 
schools.  That  bill  provided  for  a  board  of  School  Com- 
missioners for  the  state,  on  which  Barnard  served  for  four 
years.  He  traveled  over  the  country  to  elevate  public 
sentiment,  and  gave  a  lasting  uplift  to  public  instruction. 
The  Normal  School  at  New  Britain  was  one  result  of  his 
work.  He  was  for  a  time  Superintendent  of  Schools  in 
Rhode  Island,  chancellor  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin, 
and  the  first  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education. 
He  established  the  first  system  of  state  libraries,  and 
organized  teachers  in  a  national  association.  The  Journal 
of  Education,  which  he  began  in  1855,  is  called  by  the  Bri- 
tannica  "by  far  the  most  valuable  work  in  our  language  on 
the  history  of  education." 

Of  Connecticut  birth  too  is  B.  G.  Northrop,  originator 
of  the  village  improvement  societies  and  Arbor  Day,  and 
for  years  president  of  the  National  Educational  Association. 
William  T.  Harris  was  born  in  North  Killingley  in  1835,  and 
after  his  training  at  Yale,  he  established  the  Journal  of 
Speculative  Philosophy,  edited  a  series  of  school  text-books, 
and  was  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  years. 
Samuel  Kirkland,  who  has  an  honored  place  among  educators, 
was  bom  in  Norwich  in  1741,  became  missionary  to  the  Six 
Nations,  and  in  appreciation  of  his  invaluable  services 
in  the  Revolution,  he  received  a  grant  of  land  from 
the  government,  from  which  he  set  apart  a  portion  for  the 

IS 


226  j\  History  of  Connecticut 

Hamilton  Oneida  Academy,  which  in  1812,  was  incorporated 
as  Hamilton  College.  The  name  of  Asa  Packer,  bom  in 
Groton  in  1806,  is  in  the  first  class  of  educators.  He  de- 
veloped the  Lehigh  Valley  railroad,  and  in  1865,  he  gave 
half  a  million  dollars  and  a  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  of  land 
to  found  Lehigh  University,  to  which  he  bequeathed  in  his  will 
two  million  dollars.  Similar  in  spirit  was  John  F.  Slater  of 
Norwich,  who  gave  a  million  dollars  for  the  uplifting  of  the 
lately  emancipated  population  of  the  Southern  states;  he 
also  gave  Norwich  the  Slater  Museum,  and  did  much  for  the 
Free  Academy.  Mention  should  also  be  made  of  Walter 
Newberry  of  East  Windsor,  who  gave  four  million  dollars 
to  found  the  Newberry  Library  in  Chicago,  and  of  Joseph 
Hand,  who  gave  a  million  and  a  half  for  the  education  of  the 
negroes  in  the  South.  The  name  of  Manasseh  Cutler  de- 
serves mention  here  as  famous  in  education,  since  after  his 
service  in  the  Revolution  he  was  a  pioneer  in  Ohio,  was  the 
first  to  observe  the  transit  of  Venus,  was  prominent  in 
organizing  and  settling  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  had 
a  leading  part  in  drafting  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  which 
guaranteed  complete  religious  liberty,  public  support  of 
schools,  and  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Northwest. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  school  libraries,  and  it 
remains  to  mention  the  movement,  which  has  been  so 
strong  for  fifty  years  that  nearly  every  town  has  a  public 
library.  There  was  an  earlier  endeavor,  which  resulted 
in  forming  subscription  libraries,  after  the  idea  of  Franklin. 
In  1893,  Connecticut  passed  a  bill  authorizing  the  estab- 
lishing of  a  library  commission,  with  the  appointing  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Education.  Every  town 
was  notified  that  the  state  was  willing  to  give  for  one  year 
as  much  as  it  would  give,  up  to  two  hundred  dollars.  The 
first  to  respond  were  Suffield,  Seymour,  and  Wethersfield; 
two  years  later,  there  were  libraries  in  twenty-five 
towns.  In  1895,  the  legislature  voted  to  give  every  free 
public  library  an  annual  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  with 


Manasseh  Cutler  (,1744-1823) 


Education  227 

certain  mild  conditions  of  state  supervision,  and  many  towns 
have  availed  themselves  of  this  offer,  though  there  are 
some,  that  prefer  not  to  come  under  state  supervision. 
Bridgeport  was  first  to  found  a  free  public  library,  and  New 
Haven  was  next,  by  a  special  act  of  the  legislature  in  1886. 
The  name  of  Philip  Marett  of  New  Haven  will  be  remembered 
for  his  gift  of  one-tenth  of  his  estate  of  six  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  "for  the  purchase  of  books  for  the  young 
men's  Institute  or  any  public  library  which  may  from  time 
to  time  exist  in  the  city."  The  income  of  that  fund  buys 
one-half  the  books  for  the  New  Haven  public  library. 
There  are  libraries  housed  in  beautiful  buildings,  some  of 
them  richly  endowed,  such  as:  Scoville  Library,  in  Salisbury; 
Eldredge  Library,  affluent  with  tapestries,  supported  by 
Isabella  Eldredge,  the  Acton  Library  at  Old  Say  brook, 
the  Scranton  Memorial  at  Madison,  and  the  James  Black- 
stone  Memorial  at  Branford. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  COLLEGES 

IT  was  apparent  in  the  first  years  of  the  settlement  that  a 
college  was  needed  to  carry  to  the  goal  the  high  ideals  of 
the  founders,  to  "perfect  youth  in  English  grammar,  com- 
position, arithmetic,  geography,  Latin,  Greek,  religion 
and  morality,  to  form  for  usefulness  and  happiness  in  the 
various  relations  of  social  life."  Under  the  influence  of  John 
Davenport,  New  Haven  began  to  plan  for  such  an  institu- 
tion in  1 64 1.  Owing  to  a  protest  from  the  leading  men  of 
Massachusetts,  it  was  allowed  to  wait;  they  urged  that  all 
the  resources  of  New  England  were  barely  enough  to  support 
Harvard,  whose  first  building  was  erected  in  1637.  In  1652, 
the  project  was  formally  given  up  for  the  time,  but  the  New 
Haven  authorities  had  been  directed,  five  years  before,  to 
reserve  one  of  the  home  lots  for  the  college,  and  it  was  only 
a  question  of  time. 

In  1698,  the  General  Synod  of  churches  devised  a  plan  to 
establish  a  college,  intending  to  call  it  "The  School  of  the 
Church."  "They  were  to  nominate  the  first  president  and 
inspectors,  and  to  exercise  an  influence  over  all  elections  to 
preserve  orthodoxy  in  the  governors."  The  institution 
was  to  be  supported  by  the  churches.  The  following  year 
this  plan  was  dropped,  but  ten  ministers  were  named  as 
trustees,  and  a  body  of  the  most  prominent  clergymen  in 
the  colony  met  in  New  Haven  in  the  year  1700,  and  became 
a  society  of  eleven  members  for  the  formation  of  a  college. 

228 


TKe  Colleges  229 

Later  in  the  same  year,  there  was  another  meeting  in  Bran- 
ford,  when  each  minister  laid  upon  a  table  his  contribution 
of  books,  with  the  words,  "  I  give  these  books  for  the  founding 
of  a  college  in  this  colony."  The  contribution  amounted 
to  forty  folio  volumes  pertaining  to  theology,  with  not  a 
volume  of  classical  literature  or  science.  In  the  following 
year,  Sir  John  Davie  of  Groton,  while  on  a  visit  to  England, 
sent  to  the  college  one  hundred  and  sixty  volumes,  most  of 
which  were  collected  among  the  nonconformist  ministers 
in  Devonshire.  The  Rev.  Noadiah  Russell  of  Middletown 
was  appointed  librarian,  and  the  volumes  remained  in  his 
possession  three  years.  The  act  of  depositing  the  books  has 
been  considered  the  beginning  of  the  college ;  but  it  did  not 
have  a  corporate  existence  until  October  16,  1701,  when  the 
General  Assembly  gave  it  a  charter  to  make  it  legal,  to 
encourage  donations,  and  that  it  might  become  an  owner  of 
real  estate.  Judge  Samuel  Sewall  and  Isaac  Addington  of 
Boston  prepared  the  draft  of  the  charter,  which  was  pre- 
sented to  the  legislature  with  a  petition  signed  by  a  number 
of  ministers  and  laymen;  an  annual  grant  amounting  to 
about  sixty  pounds  being  voted  to  aid  in  the  support  of 
the  institution,  which  in  the  charter  was  called  a  Collegiate 
School;  no  place  of  habitation  being  mentioned,  the  trustees 
having  powers  to  decide  on  the  site  and  to  grant  degrees  and 
licenses. 

The  annual  appropriation  was  continued  for  fifty  years. 
The  first  private  donor,  other  than  the  organizers,  was 
James  Fitch  of  Norwich,  who  gave  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  acres  of  land  in  Killingley,  and  glass  and  nails  enough 
for  a  college  hall.  After  the  granting  of  the  charter,  the 
trustees  met  in  New  Haven,  and  decided  that  Saybrook  was 
the  most  convenient  place  for  the  college  for  a  time. 
After  the  eminent  Rev.  Isaac  Chauncy  of  Stratford  had 
declined  the  presidency,  the  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson  of 
Killingworth  (now  Clinton)  was  appointed  rector,  and  since 
his  people  were  unwilling  to  part  with  their  pastor,  Yale 


230  A  History  of  Connecticut 

College  had  its  abode  in  the  Killingworth  parsonage. 
From  March  until  September,  1702,  Jacob  Hemingway 
travelled  several  miles  to  college,  "and  solus  was  all  the 
college  the  first  year."  At  the  first  commencement,  which 
was  held  in  Saybrook  in  September,  1702,  there  were  no 
public  services,  but  the  trustees  gave  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts  to  four  Harvard  students;  making  another  Bachelor 
of  Arts.  The  first  student  of  Yale  to  be  graduated  was  John 
Hart  of  Farmington,  and  at  his  graduation,  September  15, 
1703,  he  was  chosen  tutor  with  a  salary  of  fifty  pounds 
country  pay ;  the  books  showing  that  the  treasurer  paid 
him  the  first  year,  nine  pounds  "tuteridg  money."  Until 
1709,  there  were  three  classes,  Senior  Sophisters,  Sopho- 
mores, and  Freshmen,  and  a  system  of  fines  was  arranged 
"for  the  preventing  of  irreligion,  idleness  and  other  im- 
moralities." The  tuition  was  thirty  shillings  a  year,  and  the 
studies  were  Latin,  Greek,  philosophy,  mathematics  and 
surveying,  with  a  weekly  recitation  of  the  Assembly's 
Catechism  in  Latin  and  Ames's  Theological  Theses.  In  the 
second  year,  the  students  increased  to  eight,  and  a  contribu- 
tion was  solicited  from  the  colony  to  build  a  college  house. 
The  resources  of  the  people  were  small,  as  there  were  only 
about  thirty  incorporated  towns,  and  the  population  was 
scarcely  fifteen  thousand,  but  they  gladly  helped. 

After  the  death  of  Rector  Pierson  in  1707,  Samuel 
Andrews  of  Milford  was  chosen  rector,  and  the  senior  class 
went  to  Milford,  while  the  other  two  classes  were  at  Say- 
brook  under  the  care  of  two  tutors,  and  the  college  was  thus 
divided  imtil  17 16.  There  was  a  decided  difference  of 
opinion  among  the  trustees  regarding  the  place  for  the 
college,  and  divided  instruction,  struggles  of  the  towns  to 
secure  it,  the  coming  on  of  the  French  and  Indian  war  and 
smallpox  so  scattered  the  students  that  it  looked  as  though 
the  little  school  might  vanish.  Some  students  went  to 
Wethersfield  and  placed  themselves  under  the  instruction 
of  Elisha  Williams.     New  Haven  contributed  seven  htm- 


The  Buildings  of  Modern  Yale  University :  Phelps  Gateway  and  Hall  at  the  Left, 

then  Welch,  Osborn,  and  Vanderbilt;  with  "  Old  South  Middle,"  now 

Connecticut  Hall,  near  the  Center,  and  President  Woolsey's 

Statue  at  the  Right  of  it 

From  a  Photograph 


View  of  the  Connecticut  State  Library,  on  Capitol  Hill,  Hartford 

From  a  Photograph 


THe  Colleg'es  231 

dred  pounds  toward  the  college  and  invited  it  to  build  there ; 
Saybrook  gave  four  hundred  pounds  and  wanted  it  there; 
while  Hartford  and  Wethersfield  gave  money  and  claimed 
it.  On  October  17,  1716,  the  trustees  voted  to  place  it  at 
New  Haven,  and  continued  Samuel  Andrews  rector  pro  tem- 
pore. The  Assembly  in  1717,  approved  the  removal  and 
voted  a  grant  for  buildings.  Saybrook  resisted  the  change 
of  the  library  to  New  Haven;  and  it  was  judged  necessary 
for  the  governor  and  council  to  be  present  when  the  sheriff 
executed  the  orders  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  Say- 
brook people  destroyed  the  carts  furnished  for  the  trans- 
portation of  the  books,  the  bridges  between  the  town  and 
New  Haven  were  broken  down,  and  many  valuable  papers 
and  books  were  lost.  The  first  commencement  held  at 
New  Haven  was  in  17 17;  the  number  of  students  was  thirty- 
one,  and  four  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  Part 
of  the  students  continued  at  Wethersfield,  the  northern  part 
of  the  colony  being  opposed  to  New  Haven  as  a  site  for  the 
college.  The  commencement  held  September  12,  17 18,  at 
New  Haven,  was  the  first  one  to  which  the  public  was  in- 
vited ;  it  was  attended  by  the  principal  laymen  and  ministers 
in  the  colony.  In  that  year  an  edifice  of  wood,  one  hundred 
and  seventy  feet  long,  twenty-two  wide,  and  three  stories 
high,  containing  about  fifty  rooms  for  students,  besides  a 
hall,  library,  and  kitchen,  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  about 
one  thousand  poimds.  One  of  the  most  liberal  donors  was 
Elihu  Yale,  a  native  of  New  Haven,  who  at  the  age  of  ten 
was  taken  to  England,  and  later  went  to  the  East  Indies, 
where  he  became  governor  of  the  East  India  Company. 
The  books  and  goods  he  sent  over  were  worth  about  five 
himdred  pounds,  and  in  recognition  of  his  mimificence,  at 
the  commencement  in  171 8,  the  new  building  constituting 
the  College  was  named  Yale,  and  dedicated  to  Elihu  Yale. 
On  the  same  day  commencement  was  held  in  Wethersfield 
for  the  students  there;  but  the  legislature  healed  the  differ- 
ences by  conciliatory  acts,  and  the  college  moved  out  of 


232  -A.  History  of  Connecticxat 

troubled  waters  under  the  leadership  of  Timothy  Cutler, 
a  Congregational  minister  of  Stratford,  an  accomplished 
scholar  and  imposing  personality,  who  was  appointed 
rector  in  1719,  and  for  him  a  house  was  built;  instructors 
and  students  increased,  the  library  was  enriched,  when 
suddenly,  at  the  commencement  in  1722,  it  was  announced 
that  the  new  rector  and  Tutor  Brown,  who  comprised  the 
faculty,  had  embraced  Episcopacy.  After  a  warm  debate, 
the  faculty  was  dismissed,  and  a  resolution  passed  that 
henceforth  every  candidate  for  the  office  of  rector  or  tutor 
should  declare  his  assent  to  the  Saybrook  Platform,  and 
satisfy  the  trustees  of  the  soundness  of  his  theology. 

Elisha  Williams  was  the  next  rector,  and  under  him  the 
college  prospered  again.  In  1732,  the  General  Assembly 
granted  Yale  three  hundred  acres  in  each  of  the  new  towns 
of  Norfolk,  Canaan,  Goshen,  Cornwall,  and  Kent.  The 
same  year  Berkeley,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  made 
large  contributions  of  money  and  books.  In  1739,  Rector 
Williams  was  compelled  by  ill  health  to  resign,  and  Thomas 
Clap  of  Windham  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy.  Rector 
Clap  was  a  scholarly  man,  and  his  genius  for  administration 
was  prodigious.  The  library  was  catalogued;  a  new  set 
of  laws  was  compiled  for  the  college,  and  a  code  was  estab- 
lished for  the  government,  ranging  all  the  way  from 
boxing  a  freshman  on  the  ear  to  expulsion,  though  fining 
was  a  favorite  penalty.  In  1745,  a  new  charter  was  ob- 
tained for  "The  President  and  Fellows  of  Yale  College." 
In  1750,  the  General  Assembly  helped  erect  Connecticut 
Hall,  and  permitted  a  lottery  to  complete  the  work. 

The  social  strata  of  the  times  are  shown  in  the  college 
catalogues,  which,  until  1767,  were  arranged  in  order  of 
rank :  sons  of  officers  of  the  colony,  then  of  ministers,  lawyers, 
artisans,  and  tradesmen.  The  etiquette  was  laborious  be- 
tween faculty  and  students,  and  students  conversed  with  one 
another  in  Latin.  All  undergraduates  were  forbidden  to 
wear  their  hats  (unless  it  was  stormy)  in  the  front  door- 


TKe  Colleges  233 

yard  of  the  president  or  a  professor's  house,  or  within  ten 
rods  of  the  person  of  the  president,  or  eight  rods  of  a  profes- 
sor, or  five  rods  of  a  tutor.  Freshmen  (except  in  stormy- 
weather)  were  required  to  go  uncovered  in  the  college  yard 
until  the  May  vacation,  unless  their  hands  were  so  full  they 
were  forced  to  rest  the  hat  where  it  belonged.  The  fresh- 
men were  not  allowed  to  run  in  the  sacred  college  yard,  nor 
up  and  down  stairs ;  neither  were  they  allowed  to  call  to  any 
one  from  a  college  window.  When  near  a  gate  or  door  in 
the  college,  freshmen  were  to  pause  and  look  around  to  see 
if  there  was  a  superior  within  three  rods  of  the  opening,  and 
they  must  not  enter  first  without  a  signal  from  the  superior. 
Fines  continued  until  the  days  of  President  Dwight.  In 
three  years  under  President  Clap,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  pounds  was  collected  by  fines.  Here  are  some  penal- 
ties: absence  from  prayers  a  penny,  tardiness  a  half -penny, 
absence  from  church  fourpence,  for  playing  cards  or  dice 
two  shillings  sixpence,  for  jumping  out  of  a  college  window 
one  shilling. 

In  1755,  when  revivals  under  the  preaching  of  George 
Whitefield  and  others  were  causing  much  excitement  through 
New  England,  President  Clap  issued  a  declaration,  signed 
by  himself  and  members  of  the  faculty,  denouncing  White- 
field's  teaching,  and  creating  in  the  minds  of  many  good 
people  a  prejudice  against  the  college.  Faculty  and  stu- 
dents had  attended  the  church  in  New  Haven,  but  the  ortho- 
doxy of  the  minister  not  being  clear  to  the  president,  he 
established  a  college  church ;  not  even  asking  the  legislature 
for  the  right  to  do  so,  but  claiming  that  as  an  incorporated 
body  the  college  was  not  dependent  on  the  General  Assembly 
in  such  a  matter.  The  opposition  attacked  the  college  as 
"too  independent,"  but  President  Clap  appeared  before  the 
Assembly,  and  argued  so  powerfully  in  favor  of  the  position 
that  the  civil  authorities  had  no  more  control  over  Yale 
than  over  any  other  persons  or  estate  in  the  colony  that  no 
action  was  taken  in  the  matter,  and  the  question  has  never 


234  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

been  raised  since.  After  Rector  Clap  died  in  1767,  Naphtali 
Daggett,  professor  of  theology,  was  acting  president,  and, 
in  1779,  when  Tryon  led  the  British  against  New  Haven, 
among  the  hasty  levies  to  repel  the  attack  was  President 
Daggett  with  a  shotgun.  After  his  companions  fled,  he 
stood  his  ground,  blazing  away  until  a  detachment  of  the 
enemy  captured  him,  and  the  officer,  unmindful  of  Yale 
instructions  to  freshmen  as  to  their  manners,  asked  sharply, 
"What  are  you  doing  here,  you  old  fool,  firing  on  His  Maj- 
esty's troops?"  "Exercising  the  rights  of  war,"  said  the 
theologian.  The  rights  of  war  took  a  disagreeable  turn  for 
the  preacher.     In  his  own  words : 

They  damned  me,  those  who  took  me,  because  they  spared  my 
life.  Thus,  'midst  a  thousand  insults,  my  infernal  driver 
hastened  me  along  farther  than  my  strength  would  admit,  in  the 
extreme  heat  of  the  day,  weakened  as  I  was  by  my  wounds  and 
the  loss  of  blood,  which,  at  a  moderate  computation,  could  not 
be  less  than  a  quart.  And  when  I  failed  in  some  degree  through 
faintness,  he  would  strike  me  on  the  back  with  a  heavy  walking- 
staff,  and  kick  me  behind  with  his  foot.  At  length  by  the 
supporting  power  of  God,  I  arrived  at  the  Green  in  New  Haven. 
...  I  obtained  leave  of  an  officer  to  be  carried  into  the  Widow 
Lyman's  and  laid  on  a  bed,  where  I  lay  the  rest  of  the  day  and 
the  succeeding  night,  in  such  excrutiating  pain  as  I  never  felt 
before. 

His  life  was  spared  through  the  influence'  of  William 
Chandler,  a  Tory,  and  one  of  his  pupils,  but  he  never  re- 
covered his  vigor  and  died  the  next  year,  leaving  some  silver 
and  negroes  to  the  value  of  one  hundred  pounds.  Ezra 
Stiles,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Clap,  was  inaugurated  July  8, 
1 778,  and  was  also  made  professor  of  church  history.  He  was 
a  valuable  leader  of  the  college,  with  salary  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  pounds,  to  be  paid  in  wheat,  pork,  corn,  and  beef, 
or  their  equivalents  in  money,  together  with  a  house  and  ten 
acres  of  land.     There  were  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 


Timothy  Dwight  (1752- 1817).     President  of  Yale  College  (1795-1817) 

From  an  Old  Engraving 


The  Colleges  235 

undergraduates,  and  the  faculty  consisted  of  president,  a 
professor  of  mathematics  and  another  of  divinity,  besides 
three  tutors,  though  lack  of  funds  in  1781,  caused  the  dis- 
missal of  the  tutors.  In  the  strain  of  the  Revolution  the 
college  was  divided.  Tutor  Dwight  took  some  of  the  stu- 
dents to  Wethersfield ;  Professor  Story  asked  to  take  another 
contingent  to  Glastonbury,  while  President  Daggett  visited 
the  classes  as  often  as  possible.  Many  students  were  in  the 
army;  four  of  the  officers  at  Bunker  Hill  were  Yale  men; 
Nathan  Hale  was  educated  there;  Major-General  David 
Wooster,  mortally  wounded  at  the  Try  on  raid,  Colonel 
Hitchcock,  valiant  at  the  Princeton  fight.  Captain  David 
Bushnell  of  torpedo  fame,  and  Oliver  Wolcott  were  all  of 
Yale. 

Modern  Yale  began  with  the  inauguration  of  Timothy 
Dwight  in  1795.  The  service  his  powerful  mind  and  lofty 
personality  gave  to  the  mental  and  religious  life  of  the 
college,  in  days  when  infidelity  was  rampant  there,  cannot 
be  exaggerated.  It  was  under  the  wise  leadership  of  this 
man  of  breadth  and  foresight  that  the  college  entered  the 
national  field.  At  first.  President  Dwight  and  Professor 
Meigs,  with  three  tutors,  carried  the  whole  burden  of  teach- 
ing, but  when  the  students  increased,  the  faculty  was  en- 
larged, and  the  three  men  who  were  added  to  the  faculty 
were  Jeremiah  Day,  James  L.  Kingsley,  and  Benjamin 
Silliman:  the  first  an  able  mathematician,  whose  text-books 
were  widely  used;  the  second,  an  accurate  scholar  in  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  called  the  Addison  of  America; 
the  third,  an  accomplished  pioneer  in  science.  President 
Dwight  abolished  fines  and  fagging,  and  in  his  day  there 
was  published  the  first  annual  catalogue,  a  single  sheet — 
said  to  be  first  of  its  kind  in  America.  He  had  the  fore- 
sight to  buy  most  of  the  land  between  College,  Chapel, 
High,  and  Elm  streets  and  in  1800,  there  were  built  North 
Middle  and  the  Lyceum — parts  of  the  Old  Brick  Row.  The 
laboratory  had  been  built  earlier,  in  1782,  and  there  Profes- 


236  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

sor  Silliman  performed  those  electrical  experiments  which 
Morse,  his  pupil,  carried  to  such  effective  issues.  The 
laboratory  was  so  deep  in  the  earth  that  the  lecturer's  head 
was  six  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground;  but  Silliman's 
zeal  was  not  buried.  In  1806,  President  D wight  urged  the 
establishment  of  the  Medical  School,  and  helped  to  effect  a 
union  between  the  college  and  the  Connecticut  Medical 
Association,  which  had  controlled  medical  education  in  the 
state,  and  in  18 10,  the  Medical  Institution  of  Yale  College 
was  chartered.  Eight  years  later  it  opened  with  a  medical 
faculty  of  Jonathan  Knight,  then  but  twenty-three,  to  be- 
come a  distinguished  surgeon  and  unrivaled  lecturer,  Eneas 
Munson,  Eli  Ives,  a  successful  physician,  who  was  noted 
for  his  knowledge  of  the  indigenous  materia  medica,  Nathan 
Smith,  whose  studies  in  Europe  gave  him  an  extraordinary 
medical  education  for  his  time,  and  Benjamin  Silliman. 

President  Dwight's  successor  was  Professor  Jeremiah 
Day,  who  was  inaugurated  president  in  18 17.  Quiet  and 
retiring,  his  administrative  ability  with  his  zeal  for  system 
and  order  had  a  decided  influence  on  the  college.  A  favor- 
ite expression  of  his  was,  "  Punct-00-ality  is  a  vir-too." 
It  was  a  turbulent  era,  when  the  famous  "bread  and  butter 
rebellion"  and  "conic  sections  rebellion"  were  waged,  and 
the  faculty  won,  though  at  the  expense  of  the  expulsion 
of  forty  sophomores.  Among  the  new  professors  were 
Chauncey  A.  Goodrich,  powerful  in  personality  and  persua- 
sive in  speech,  and  Denison  Olmsted,  whose  text-books  on 
natural  philosophy  and  astronomy  were  in  the  first  class. 
The  treasury,  under  the  care  of  James  Hillhouse,  was  wisely 
managed,  and  in  1831,  a  fund  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  was  raised.  In  1822,  the  Divinity  School  was  es- 
tablished as  a  department,  and  it  soon  became  a  power 
under  the  sway  of  the  profound  and  eloquent  Nathanael  W. 
Taylor,  who,  with  such  associates  and  successors  as  Eleazer 
T.  Fitch,  Josiah  W.  Gibbs,  and  Leonard  Bacon,  George 
P.   Fisher,   Timothy   Dwight   and   Samuel    Harris   had    a 


Pa 


The  Colleges  237 

marked  influence.  The  Law  School,  which  as  a  private 
enterprise  had  existed  for  some  time,  became  a  part  of  the 
college  in  1824,  when  David  Daggett  became  Kent  pro- 
fessor of  law  in  the  college.  In  1833,  the  famous  Litch- 
field Law  School  was  discontinued,  and  its  books  and 
records  were  transferred  to  the  school  at  Yale,  which  has 
flourished  under  such  men  as  Woolsey  and  Baldwin.  During 
those  years.  North  College,  the  chapel,  the  cabinet,  and 
treasury  were  built. 

In  1846,  Theodore  Dwight  Woolsey  succeeded  President 
Day,  carrying  to  the  college  a  broad  and  careful  scholarship, 
enriched  by  studies  in  Europe.  On  becoming  president  he 
turned  from  Greek,  of  which  he  had  been  professor  for 
fifteen  years,  to  international  law  in  which  he  became  an 
authority.  He  was  also  an  able  administrator;  the  graduate 
department  was  strengthened;  James  Hadley  brought  high 
scholarship  as  linguist  and  philologist;  Elias  Loomis  added 
his  mathematical  genius;  James  D.  Dana  made  the  college 
famous  in  geology;  Hubert  A.  Newton  was  accomplished  in 
meteoric  astronomy;  Thomas  A,  Thatcher  was  for  over 
forty  years  an  able  teacher  of  Latin  and  molder  of  char- 
acter; in  the  year  of  Woolsey 's  inauguration  the  library 
building,  the  first  Gothic  structure  on  the  campus,  was 
completed.  Yale  was  continually  broadening  its  course; 
in  1 84 1,  Edward  E,  Salisbury  was  appointed  to  the  chair  of 
Sanskrit  and  Arabic,  and  became  the  first  in  the  line  of 
great  Oriental  scholars  who  have  given  distinction  to  Yale. 
In  1854,  William  D.  Whitney  was  made  professor  of  San- 
skrit, and  in  1869,  he  gave  to  comparative  philology  the 
weight  of  his  rare  scholarship.  The  founding  of  the  Pea- 
body  Museum,  the  Art  School,  and  the  Winchester  Observa- 
tory strengthened  the  college.  In  1866,  Othniel  C.  Marsh 
took  the  chair  of  paleontology,  amassed  a  treasure  of 
fossils,  conducted  a  series  of  expeditions  to  regions  beyond 
the  Missouri  River,  and  brought  back  four  hundred  speci- 
mens  of  vertebrate   fossils,  new   to   science.     Addison   E. 


238  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

Verrill  was  making  a  study  of  deep-sea  life,  bringing  together 
two  hundred  thousand  specimens. 

The  Sheffield  Scientific  School  was  an  expression  of  the 
inspiring  personality  of  Benjamin  Silliman.  In  1846,  his  son 
of  the  same  name  and  John  P.  Norton  began  a  school  in 
analytical  chemistry  and  mineralogy,  and  soon  the  atten- 
tion of  Joseph  E.  Sheffield,  well  known  in  railroad  enter- 
prises, was  called  to  the  needs  of  the  college  in  science,  and 
he  made  such  generous  donations  that  in  1861,  the  school 
that  bears  his  name  came  into  existence.  The  director  was 
George  J.  Brush,  the  mineralogist;  later,  Russell  H.  Chitten- 
den, eminent  in  physiological  chemistry,  gave  increased 
power  to  the  school,  as  director.  In  1856,  Samuel  A. 
Johnson,  the  chemist,  became  professor  at  Yale,  and  a 
leader  in  the  establishment  of  agricultural  stations  through 
the  country.  The  versatile  William  A.  Brewer  and  the 
gifted  authority  in  early  English,  Thomas  A.  Lounsbury, 
and  in  1871,  Josiah  Willard  Gibbs  gave  the  faculty  still 
greater  power.  Professor  Gibbs,  son  of  a  noted  Yale  pro- 
fessor, had  the  chair  of  metaphysical  physics,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  profound  mathematicians  the  world  has 
ever  seen. 

The  coming  of  Noah  Porter  to  the  presidency  in  1872, 
brought  to  the  headship  of  the  college  an  eminent  teacher 
of  mental  science,  and  a  conservative  and  kindly  leader. 
In  the  same  year,  the  government  was  popularized  by 
bringing  in  the  practice  of  electing  six  members  of  the 
corporation  by  the  alumni  instead  of  the  legislature,  at 
the  same  time  the  rising  interest  in  athletics  was  marked  by 
the  introduction  of  football,  and  in  1877,  Yale  began  her 
annual  races  at  New  London  with  Harvard.  Two  years 
later,  the  Intercollegiate  Baseball  Association  was  formed, 
and  members  of  the  class  of  1881,  secured  the  purchase  of 
the  Yale  Field,  and  now  arrangements  are  in  progress  for 
a  stadium,  to  seat  sixty  thousand  spectators.  A  system 
of  electives  came  in  about  that  time,  and  the  Sloane  physical 


TKe  Colleges  239 

laboratory,  Kent  chemical  laboratory  and  Lawrence  Hall 
were  given. 

In  1886,  Professor  Timothy  D wight,  the  wise  and  genial 
scholar,  became  president;  electives  were  multiplied;  the 
force  of  instructors  increased;  D wight  Hall,  the  center  of 
the  religious  life  of  the  college,  was  completed;  there  rose 
the  walls  of  Osburn,  Welch,  White,  Winchester,  Vanderbilt, 
Phelps  Memorial,  Berkeley,  and  Pierson  halls.  Yale 
infirmary  was  given  by  women  in  New  Haven  and  New 
York,  and  a  gymnasium  was  built  during  President  Dwight's 
administration,  and  Hendrie  Hall  was  given  to  the  Law 
School,  though  it  was  not  completed  until  1900.  The  School 
of  Music  became  a  definite  department,  and  foundations  were 
established  for  fellowships,  scholarships,  and  prizes.  The 
earliest  permanent  college  magazine  was  the  Yale  Literary 
Magazine,  which  was  established  in  1856,  and  among  its 
editors  have  been  William  M.  Evarts,  Donald  G.  Mitchell, 
D.  C.  Oilman,  and  Andrew  D.  White. 

Just  before  the  Bicentennial  in  1901,  President  D wight 
gave  place  to  Professor  Arthur  T.  Hadley,  an  authority  in 
railroad  science.  At  that  celebration,  alumni  and  sister 
institutions  paid  their  tribute  of  honor  to  the  college;  the 
pageant  was  brilliant;  a  Bicentennial  Fund  of  two  millions 
of  dollars  was  raised,  by  means  of  which  were  erected  the 
Administration  Building,  dedicated  as  Woodbridge  Hall, 
the  new  dining-hall,  called  University  Hall,  and  the  Woolsey 
Auditorium,  in  which  the  family  of  John  H.  Newbury 
installed  the  Memorial  Organ.  The  Fayerweather  Hall 
and  Lampson  Lyceum  were  also  erected  in  that  period; 
Kirkland  Hall  increased  the  facilities  of  the  Scientific  School 
in  mineralogy  and  geology;  Byers  Hall,  the  headquarters 
for  the  Sheffield  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and 
Vanderbilt  Hall  for  the  same  department  were  also  built. 
In  1900,  James  W.  Pinchot  made  possible  the  founding  of 
the  School  of  Forestry,  which  is  becoming  an  important 
department  of  the  university,  v.  hose  students  have  increased 


240  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

to  more  than  three  thousand  and  the  facility  to  nearly  four 
hundred.  The  forty  theological  books  given  by  the  ministers 
have  multiplied  to  nearly  four  hundred  thousand.  The  Art 
School  has  some  valuable  collections, — such  as  the  Trum- 
bull gallery  of  fifty-four  works  of  the  patriot-painter.  There 
is  also  the  Jarves  gallery  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
volumes  of  ItaHan  paintings  from  the  eleventh  to  the  seven- 
teenth centuries,  illustrating  the  development  of  art  in  the 
old  painters.  There  is  the  Steinert  collection  of  antique 
harpsichords,  claviers,  and  spinnets,  besides  autograph 
letters  of  great  musicians.  In  the  Peabody  Museum  is 
a  paleontological  collection  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any 
other  college  in  America,  and  according  to  Huxley — in  Eu- 
rope. It  has  a  skeleton  of  the  primitive  dog,  the  only 
complete  one  in  existence,  and  a  slab  containing  the  skeleton 
of  a  cretaceous  dinosaur,  nearly  thirty  feet  long  and  thirteen 
feet  high,  besides  the  huge  remains  of  the  largest  land  animals 
known;  one  from  New  Zealand  is  seventy  feet  long  and 
twenty  feet  high.  The  museum  is  rich  in  minerals  and 
meteorites,  including  the  famous  mass  weighing  sixteen  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  pounds  that  fell  in  Texas.  The  names 
of  Yale  men  eminent  in  law,  medicine,  theology,  invention, 
missions,  and  statesmanship  are  legion.  The  name  Yale 
University  was  authorized  in  1887,  and  in  its  many  depart- 
ments it  is  developing  in  power  under  the  able  presidency 
of  Arthur  T.  Hadley. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  Trinity  College,  we  go  back  to 
the  days  when  everything  that  was  not  Congregational  was 
under  the  ban  in  Connecticut.  Soon  after  the  consecration 
of  Bishop  Seabury,  steps  were  taken  to  organize  a  college 
under  the  care  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  at  a  convoca- 
tion at  East  Haddam  a  movement  started  toward  the  in- 
corporation, in  1 801,  of  the  academy  at  Cheshire,  which  was 
sometimes  called  Seabury  College.  The  legislature  granted 
only  limited  powers  to  it.  It  was  not  to  confer  degrees,  for 
in  that  case  it  might  become  a  rival  of  Yale.     Repeated 


The  Right  Reverend  Samuel  Seabury,  D.D.  (1729-1796).     The  First 
Bishop  of  Connecticut 

From  an  Old  Copper  Print 


The  Colleg'es  241 

efforts  were  made  in  vain  to  secure  an  enlargement  of  the 
charter,  until  the  adoption  of  the  new  state  constitution  in 
18 1 8,  when,  in  connection  with  the  consecration  of  Bishop 
Brownell,  permission  was  granted  to  establish  another  col- 
lege in  the  state.  A  petition,  signed  by  many  citizens,  was 
presented  to  the  legislature  on  May  10,  1823;  and  soon 
afterwards  an  act  incorporating  Washington  College  was 
passed.  Fifty  thousand  dollars  was  pledged  within  a  year, 
and  as  Hartford  subscribed  three-fourths  of  this,  it  was 
chosen  as  the  site.  Bishop  Brownell  was  elected  presi- 
dent on  May  16,  1824,  and  in  the  following  month,  Jarvis 
Hall  and  Seabury  Hall  were  started.  College  opened  in 
1824,  with  nine  students,  and  on  the  faculty  with  Presi- 
dent Brownell  were  George  W.  Doane,  Hector  Humphrey, 
and  Horatio  Potter.  Students  were  received  for  a  par- 
tial course  of  two  years,  having  in  view  an  English  di- 
ploma. The  first  commencement  was  held  in  August, 
1827,  when  ten  graduates  received  the  Bachelor  degree. 
In  1 83 1,  Nathanael  S.  Wheaton  became  president,  and 
during  the  six  years  of  his  term,  a  foundation  was  laid  for  a 
system  of  endowment,  placing  the  college  on  a  firm  financial 
basis.  In  1837,  Silas  Totten  became  president,  holding  office 
for  eleven  years.  In  1845,  a  second  dormitory  was  built 
named  Brownell  Hall,  and  the  same  year  the  name  of  the  col- 
lege was  changed  to  Trinity.  A  board  of  fellows  was  organ- 
ized to  superintend  the  course  of  study  and  the  discipline. 
Alumni,  not  members  of  the  corporation,  were  formed  into 
a  House  of  Convocation,  a  title  which  was  changed  in  1883, 
to  the  Association  of  the  Alumni.  In  1849,  the  charter  was 
amended  to  make  the  Bishop  of  Connecticut  chancellor 
of  the  college  and  president  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
Bishop  John  Williams  held  the  office  for  two  years,  until 
compelled  by  duties  of  his  diocese  to  resign,  and  Daniel  R. 
Goodwin  was  president  until  i860.  Students  increased; 
Hartford  bought  the  college  campus  for  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  a  site  for  the  new  capitol,  and  a  tract 


242  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

of  nearly  eighty  acres  was  secured  a  mile  south.  Thomas 
R.  Pynchon  became  president  in  1874,  and  in  the  following 
year,  ground  was  broken  for  the  new  buildings,  and  in  1878, 
two  large  blocks  were  ready  for  occupancy.  The  erection 
of  Northam  Hall  in  1881,  completed  the  western  range  of 
the  quadrangle — named  after  Charles  H.  Northam  of 
Hartford,  whose  total  gifts  to  the  college  were  a  quarter 
of  a  million  of  dollars.  Under  President  Smith,  the  course 
of  studies  was  enriched,  Gymnasium,  Alumni  Hall,  Labora- 
tory and  Observatory  erected.  The  college  is  advancing 
in  efficiency  and  influence  under  President  Flavel  S.  Luther, 
who  was  inaugurated  in  1904. 

The  incorporation  of  the  third  college  in  Connecticut 
met  no  sectarian  opposition,  and  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  leaders  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  feeling 
the  need  of  a  college  in  New  England  or  New  York,  while 
looking  for  a  suitable  place  were  attracted  to  Middletown. 
In  1825,  Captain  Alden  Partridge,  a  former  superintendent 
of  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  opened  in  Mid- 
dletown the  American  Literary,  Scientific,  and  Military 
Academy,  and  to  encourage  the  school,  the  citizens  built 
two  substantial  stone  structures,  but  failure  to  secure  a 
charter  led  to  the  removal  of  the  school  to  Norwich,  Ver- 
mont, in  1829.  The  vacant  buildings  attracted  the  attention 
of  Laban  Clark,  presiding  elder  of  the  New  Haven  district, 
and  he  told  the  owners  that  he  would  be  one  of  ten  to  buy 
the  property.  The  New  England  Conference  took  the 
matter  up  and  made  the  purchase  for  about  thirty-three 
thousand  dollars,  on  condition  that  it  be  used  only  for  a 
college,  and  be  endowed  with  at  least  forty  thousand 
dollars.  Trustees  were  chosen,  and  the  college  organized 
under  the  name  of  Wesleyan  University, — the  oldest  in  the 
country  now  existing,  that  was  founded  by  and  has  remained 
under  care  of  the  Methodists.  The  first  president  was 
Wilbur  Fisk,  and  in  September,  1831,  its  doors  were 
opened  to  students  of  both  sexes.     Wesleyan  was  among 


TKe  Colleges  243 

the  first  to  have  a  scientific  course,  and  under  the  presidency 
of  Augustus  W.  Smith,  beginning  in  1851,  the  raising  of  an 
endowment  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  assured  the 
permanence  of  the  college.  In  the  presidency  of  Joseph 
Cummings,  the  first  alumnus  chosen  to  the  office,  Isaac 
Rich  built  a  library  to  hold  one  hundred  thousand  volumes, 
and  a  large  library  fund  was  raised;  the  boarding  hall  was 
remodeled  into  an  observatory  hall,  a  memorial  chapel, 
and  the  Orange  Judd  Hall  of  Natural  Science  constructed, 
the  last  at  a  cost  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  In  the 
presidency  of  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  who  followed  Cummings,  the 
debt  was  paid,  and  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  added 
to  the  endowment.  Of  late,  the  gifts  of  George  I.  Seney, 
Daniel  Ayres,  and  others  have  enlarged  the  scope  of  the 
college,  built  a  fine  gymnasium,  and  led  to  a  large  increase 
in  students.  It  has  been  for  years  a  growing  conviction  that 
the  student  body  should  be  limited  to  men,  and  the  last  year 
in  which  women  were  graduated  from  the  college  was  19 12. 
With  grounds,  buildings,  and  endowment  aggregating  in  value 
two  million  dollars,  an  amount  increased  in  19 12,  by  a  million 
dollars,  Wesleyan  takes  a  high  place  under  the  leadership  of 
William  A.  Shanklin,  who  was  inaugurated  in  1909. 

There  has  been  a  conviction  in  many  minds  for  years 
that  there  ought  to  be  a  college  in  Connecticut  for  women, 
and  during  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  19 10- 11,  a  charter 
was  granted  to  establish  such  a  college  at  New  London, 
and  a  tract  a  mile  long  on  the  west  side  of  the  Thames  has 
been  secured,  partly  by  purchase,  and  partly  by  gift  of  Mrs. 
Harriet  U.  Allyn  of  New  London.  The  people  of  the  city 
have  taken  up  the  matter  of  raising  money  for  the  college 
with  enthusiasm,  and  already  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  has  been  raised  there.  In  addition  to 
this,  Morton  F.  Plant  of  New  London  has  given  a  million 
dollars  for  endowment.  The  date  appointed  for  the  opening 
is  1914,  and  under  Dr.  F.  H.  Sykes  as  president,  the  college 
will  start  under  the  happiest  auspices. 


244  -A,  History  of  Connecticxit 

The  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  was  founded  as  the 
result  of  a  convention  of  thirty-six  Congregational  ministers 
held  at  East  Windsor,  September  lo,  1833,  for  the  purpose 
of  devising  means  to  counteract  certain  theological  views 
prevailing  in  some  quarters,  views  concerning  depravity 
and  regeneration,  which  seemed  to  those  conservative  men 
dangerous  innovations.  At  that  convention,  the  Pastoral 
Union  of  Connecticut  was  organized  on  the  basis  of  a 
Calvinistic  creed.  The  constitution  adopted  provided  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Theological  Seminary  to  guard 
against  the  perversion  of  consecrated  funds.  The  control 
of  the  seminary  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  trus- 
tees accountable  to  the  Pastoral  Union,  As  a  result,  the 
Theological  Institute  of  Connecticut  was  incorporated  in 
May,  1834,  ^^^  opened  in  the  following  September  at  East 
Windsor  with  sixteen  students.  The  early  years  were 
marked  by  financial  straits,  and  after  a  score  of  years,  so 
depressing  was  the  situation  that  the  trustees  made  over- 
tures to  Yale  to  unite  the  two  theological  schools.  There 
was  substantial  unity  on  both  sides,  but  the  men  who  rep- 
resented Yale  asked  for  delay,  and  when  the  matter  was 
taken  up  again  there  had  come  a  change  over  the  situation, 
because  of  large  gifts  to  the  East  Windsor  school,  the 
largest  being  that  of  James  B.  Hosmer  of  Hartford,  who 
founded  a  professorship,  and  gave  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  to  erect  a  building.  In  September,  1865,  the  semi- 
nary was  transferred  to  Hartford,  and  for  fourteen  years 
was  housed  on  Prospect  Street,  moving  in  1879,  to  Broad 
Street,  where,  through  the  liberality  of  Newton  Case,  a 
library  building  was  erected  to  hold  two  hundred  thousand 
volumes,  and  the  name  was  changed  to  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary.  The  old-school  war-horses  of  the  faith,  Bennet 
Tyler  and  William  Thompson,  have  given  place  to  men 
equally  able:  Chester  A.  Hartranft  with  his  large  vision 
and  genius  for  administration  and  inspiration,  and,  since 
1903,  William  Douglas  Mackenzie,  a  master  of  men  and  of 


XHe  Colleges  245 

ideas.  Generous  gifts  of  late  have  made  possible  enlarging 
the  scope  of  the  Hartford  Seminary  Foundation  to  include 
the  Kennedy  School  of  Missions  and  the  School  of  Religious 
Pedagogy,  with  the  outlook  toward  a  university  to  meet  the 
various  needs  of  the  churches,  and  a  tract  of  thirty  acres 
has  been  purchased  in  the  western  part  of  Hartford,  to  which 
it  will  move  to  enter  its  widening  career. 

The  Berkeley  Divinity  School  began  in  a  theological 
department  informally  organized  in  Trinity  College  in  1851, 
by  the  president  of  the  college,  Rev.  John  Williams.  Three 
years  later,  a  charter  was  granted  for  the  school  as'a  separate 
institution  to  be  located  at  Middletown,  where  a  large 
building  was  given  for  its  use,  and  Bishop  Williams  was 
dean  of  the  school  for  forty-five  years,  until  his  death  in 
1899.  Generous  provision  has  been  made  from  time  to 
time  for  a  spacious  library,  enlargement  of  buildings,  and  an 
endowment  of  nearly  half  a  million  dollars.  Five  hundred 
men  have  graduated  from  the  school  and  have  taken  holy 
orders.  There  were  in  19 10,  five  full  professors  and  several 
instructors  and  lecturers. 

The  influence  of  Connecticut  on  colleges  in  other  states 
has  been  effective.  The  founding  of  Dartmouth  College 
can  be  traced  to  Eleazar  Wheelock  of  Windham,  who,  while 
pastor  at  North  Lebanon,  now  Columbia,  established  a 
school  for  Indians,  which  he  transferred  to  Hanover,  New 
Hampshire,  where  fifty-five  of  the  sixty-eight  shares  in  the 
town  had  been  assigned  to  settlers  from  Windham,  and  of 
the  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  graduates  of  Dartmouth 
to  1 790,  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  were  from  Connecticut. 
The  founder  of  Hamilton  College  was  Samuel  Kirkland, 
who  was  born  in  Norwich  in  1741;  after  graduating  from 
Princeton,  he  became  a  missionary  among  the  Indians,  and 
during  the  Revolution  was  able  to  secure  the  neutrality  of 
the  Oneida  Indians,  and  in  1793  he  founded  the  college. 

Among  the  presidents  of  Marietta  College  has  been 
Israel  A.  Andrews  of  Connecticut.     The  first  president  of 


246  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

Beloit  College  was  Andrew  Chapin,  and  the  projector  of  the 
Western  Reserve  University  was  Caleb  Pitkin,  both  from 
Connecticut.  Illinois  College  owes  much  to  this  state,  as 
T.  J.  Sturtevant  was  one  of  its  founders,  and  Edward  Beecher 
was  its  first  president.  The  Johnsons,  father  and  son,  were 
influential  in  founding  and  shaping  Columbia  College, 
whose  first  president,  William  S.  Johnson  was  born  in  Strat- 
ford in  1696,  graduated  at  Yale,  was  member  of  the  Stamp 
Act  Congress,  took  an  active  part  in  the  Revolution,  be- 
came a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  member  of 
the  constitutional  convention,  and  was  one  of  the  first  sen- 
ators;  Abraham  Baldwin,  born  in  Guilford  in  1754,  grad- 
uated from  Yale,  was  chaplain  in  the  Revolution,  then  went 
to  Savannah,  Georgia,  where  he  entered  the  legislature  and 
became  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress.  He  was  sent 
to  the  constitutional  convention,  and  afterwards  to  Congress. 
Baldwin  secured  a  charter  for  the  University  of  Georgia, 
gave  forty  thousand  acres  toward  its  endowment  and  was 
also  its  first  president.  Union  University  owes  much  to 
Eliphalet  Knott,  a  native  of  Ashford,  who  conducted  its 
affairs  in  its  early  years  with  great  skill,  raising  large 
sums  of  money  for  it  by  lotteries.  Another  Connecticut 
man  who  gave  distinction  to  the  faculty  of  Union  was 
Laurens  P.  Hickok,  a  native  of  Danbury,  who  was  pro- 
fessor in  Western  Reserve  and  Auburn  Seminary  before 
becoming  president  of  Union.  Hickok's  works  on  psy- 
chology and  moral  science  are  those  of  a  profound  thinker. 
John  J.  Owen,  the  Greek  scholar,  a  native  of  Colebrook, 
was  an  eminent  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York. 

Amherst  College  owes  much  to  Connecticut;  President 
Heman  Humphrey,  who  did  so  much  to  put  it  upon  its  feet, 
was  born  in  West  Simsbury,  and  graduated  from  Yale; 
Julius  H.  Seelye,  long  a  professor  of  mental  and  moral 
philosophy  and  for  fifteen  years  its  president,  was  a  native  of 
Bethel,  as  was  his  brother  L.  Clark  Seelye,  for  years  pro- 


XHe  Colleges  247 

fessor  of  English  literature,  and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  the 
able  president  of  Smith  College.  From  this  state  have  gone 
three  presidents  of  Williams  College:  Ebenezer  Fitch,  from 
I793>  when  the  college  was  chartered, — Fitch  was  born  in 
Norwich,  and  was  president  fifteen  years ;  Edward  S.  Griffin, 
born  in  East  Haddam,  who  gave  the  college  efficient  service, 
1821-26;  and  Franklin  Carter,  born  in  Waterbury,  who  was 
president,  1881-96.  The  famous  Charles  G.  Finney  was 
born  in  Warren,  and  was  professor  and  president  at  Oberlin, 
1835-54.  Jared  Sparks,  professor  of  history  at  Harvard  and 
for  four  years  its  president,  was  born  in  Willington.  Cyrus 
Northrop,  born  in  Ridgefield,  was  professor  at  Yale  for 
eleven  years,  and  in  1881,  became  president  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Minnesota.  Daniel  C.  Gilman  was  born  in  Norwich, 
and  after  serving  as  professor  in  the  Sheffield  School,  he 
became  the  first  president  of  the  University  of  California, 
and  later  of  Johns  Hopkins,  which  he  did  much  to  organize 
in  1875,  holding  office  until  1902,  when  he  became  president 
of  the  Carnegie  Institution  in  Washington.  Among  the 
one  hundred  and  five  college  presidents  furnished  by  Yale, 
eighteen  have  been  the  first  presidents,  and  most  of  them 
natives  of  Connecticut. 

The  founder  of  the  first  dental  college  in  the  world  was 
Horace  H.  Hay  den,  born  in  Windsor  in  1769,  and  his  vers- 
atile mind  found  play  as  an  architect,  builder,  army- 
surgeon,  and  geologist.  He  became  interested  in  dentistry 
through  John  Greenwood,  Washington's  dentist.  Hayden 
opened  an  office  in  Baltimore.  In  1840,  he  called  together 
a  few  leading  dentists  in  New  York,  and  the  American 
Society  of  Dental  Surgeons  was  organized,  with  Dr.  Hay- 
den as  its  president  until  his  death,  four  years  later.  The 
next  step  was  the  publishing  of  a  journal,  the  American 
Journal  of  Medical  Science.  A  college  was  opened  in 
Baltimore  in  1840,  the  College  of  Dental  Surgery,  with 
Hayden  as  its  president,  and  professor  of  the  principles  and 
practice  of  dental  surgery.     In  1846,  C.  0.  Cone,  born  in 


248  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

East  Haddam,  was  appointed  professor  of  mechanical 
dentistry  in  the  new  college.  Hartford  has  also  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  birthplace  of  E.  M.  Gallaudet,  son  of 
the  distinguished  founder  of  the  American  School  for  the 
Deaf  in  Hartford.  Dr.  Gallaudet  organized,  in  1864,  the 
College  for  the  Deaf  in  Washington,  D.  C.  This  institu- 
tion, of  which  the  founder  was  until  recently  president,  is 
the  only  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  world  of  the  grade  of 
college.  In  view  of  these  facts,  nothing  further  need  be 
said  to  establish  the  claim  that  Connecticut  has  been  true 
to  the  purpose  of  its  founders  to  establish  a  commonwealth 
of  intelligence. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HIGHWAYS 

THE  development  of  a  state  is  marked  not  only  by  its 
courts,  industries,  and  schools,  but  also  by  its  high- 
ways, since  the  road  is  a  type  of  civilization,  a  duct  of  trade, 
a  symbol  of  culture  and  progress.  At  the  start,  there  were 
in  the  wilderness  only  Indian  paths — "  trodden-paths, " 
they  were  called  in  the  early  court-records — narrow  passages 
scarcely  two  feet  wide,  deepened  by  the  Indian  moccasins, 
the  hobnailed  shoes  of  the  settlers,  the  tread  of  cattle,  and 
the  feet  of  horses,  often  with  blazed  trees  as  guide-posts, — 
later  known  as  "bridle-paths."  For  many  years  there  were 
few  horses  in  New  England,  and  those  that  were  owned 
there  were  too  valuable  on  the  farms  to  be  spared  for  travel- 
ing. When  Bradstreet  was  sent  to  Dover  as  Royal  Com- 
missioner, he  walked  both  ways  in  the  Indian  path.  Streams 
were  crossed  on  fallen  trees,  or  at  fords.  There  is  one  record 
of  Governor  Winthrop  carried  "pick-a-back"  by  a  sturdy 
Indian  guide.  The  Indians  showed  the  English  the  two 
turnpike  trails  from  Connecticut  to  Boston. 

The  Old  Connecticut  Path  started  from  Cambridge,  and 
ran  through  Waltham,  Framingham,  Dudley,  and  Woodstock, 
through  the  " Wabbaquasset  Country."  The  most  famous 
of  all  the  trails  was  the  Bay  Path,  which  passed  through 
Marlborough  to  Worcester,  then  to  Oxford,  Charlton,  and 
Brookfield  (where  turned  off  the  Hadley  Path),  then  south 
to  Hartford.     J.  G.  Holland  wrote  of  these  trails: 

249 


250  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

No  stream  was  bridged,  no  hill  graded,  no  marsh  drained.  It 
was  the  channel  through  which  laws  were  communicated,  through 
which  flowed  news  from  distant  friends,  loving  letters  and  mes- 
sages. That  rough  thread  of  soil  was  a  trail  that  radiated  at 
each  terminus  into  a  thousand  fibres  of  love,  and  interest,  and 
hope  and  memory.  Every  rod  had  been  prayed  over  by  friends 
on  the  journey  and  friends  at  home. 

Gradually  the  paths  widened  into  roads,  though  for  years 
the  phrase  was  "the  path  to  New  Haven,"  "the  path  to 
Agawam,  "and  the  first  reference  to  a  road  appears  to  be  in 
1638,  when  it  was  ordered  that  a  road  be  made  to  Windsor, 
which  is  probably  the  oldest  road  in  the  state.  There  are 
records  of  appeals  to  the  General  Court  for  permission  to  lay 
out  roads  until  all  the  towns  were  connected.  In  1679,  it 
was  ordered  that  the  roads  from  plantation  to  plantation  be 
repaired,  and  that  the  inhabitants  once  a  year  should  clear 
a  roadway  of  a  rod  wide  at  least  on  "  the  country  roads,  or  the 
king's  highway."  In  1684,  the  records  say,  "great  neglect 
was  fowned  in  mayntaining  of  the  highways  between  towne 
and  towne;  the  wayes  being  incumbered  with  dirty  slowes, 
bushes,  trees  and  stones. "  It  was  at  that  time  that  William 
and  Mary  granted  the  colonies  the  right  to  have  a  postal 
system,  and  the  first  regular  mounted  post  from  New  York 
to  Boston  started  January  i,  1684.  The  first  post  road 
between  those  two  cities  passed  through  Providence,  Ston- 
ington,  and  New  London,  and  extended  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  following  closely  the  old  Pequot  Path  as  far  as 
Providence.  In  1698,  travelers  and  postmen  complained 
that  they  "met  great  difficultie"  in  journeying,  especially 
through  Stonington,  which  "difBcultie  arises  from  want  of 
stated  highways,  or  want  of  clearing  and  repairing,  and  erect- 
ing and  maintaining  sufficient  bridges,  and  marks  for  direc- 
tion of  travellers, "  and  it  was  ordered  by  the  legislature  that 
these  defects  should  be  remedied,  under  penalty  of  a  fine  of 
ten  pounds.  A  road  was  laid  out,  by  order  of  the  General 
Assembly  before  1700,  between  New  London  and  Norwich, 


lEW  YORK 


■^-..^ 


Development  of  tHe  Hi^K-w^ays  251 

passing  through  the  Mohican  fields,  being  surveyed  by- 
Joshua  Raymond,  who  was  paid  with  the  gift  of  a  fine  farm 
upon  the  route. 

In  1704,  Madame  Knight  went  from  Boston  to  New  York 
on  horseback,  and  her  experiences  with  bad  roads,  miserable 
taverns  or  huts,  where  she  stopped  for  the  night,  give  us  a  dis- 
mal picture  of  the  rudeness  of  the  times.  On  October  2,  1 704, 
she  wrote  in  her  journal:  "Began  my  journey  from  Boston 
to  New  Haven;  being  about  two  hundred  mile."  The 
food  offered  at  the  taverns  was  apt  to  be  trying ;  in  one  place 
the  "cabage  was  of  so  deep  a  purple,"  she  thought  it  had 
been  "boiled  in  the  dye-kettle."  She  speaks  of  a  "cannoo" 
so  small  and  shallow  that  she  kept  her  "eyes  stedy,  not 
daring  so  much  as  to  lodg  my  tongue  a  hair's  breadth  more 
on  one  side  of  my  mouth  than  tother,  nor  so  much  as  think 
of  Lott's  wife,  for  a  wry  thought  would  have  oversett  our 
wherey. "     She  wrote  that  after  leaving  New  London, 

wee  advanced  on  the  town  of  Seabrook.  The  Rodes  all  along 
this  way  are  very  bad.  Incumbered  with  Rocks  and  mountainos 
passages,  which  were  very  disagreeable  to  my  tired  carcass.  In 
going  over  a  Bridge,  under  which  the  River  Run  very  swift,  my 
hors  stumbled,  and  very  narrowly  'scaped  falling  over  into  the 
water;  which  extremely  frightened  me.  But  through  God's 
goodness  I  met  with  no  harm,  and  mounting  agen,  in  about  half 
a  miles  Rideing  came  to  an  ordinary,  was  well  entertained  by  a 
woman  of  about  seventy  and  advantage,  but  of  as  sound  Intellec- 
tuals as  one  of  seventeen. 

After  crossing  Say  brook  ferry,  she  stopped  at  an  inn  to 
bait,  and  to  dine,  but  the  broiled  mutton  was  so  highly 
flavored  that  the  only  dinner  received  was  through  the 
sense  of  smell.  After  leaving  Killingworth,  she  was  told 
to  ride  a  mile  or  two,  and  turn  down  a  lane  on  the  right 
hand.  Not  finding  the  lane,  she  continues,  "We  met  a 
young  fellow,  and  ask't  him  how  farr  it  was  to  the  lane, 
which  turned  down  to  Guilford.     He  said  we  must  ride  a 


252  -A  History  of  Connecticvit 

little  further,  and  turn  down  by  the  corner  of  Uncle  Sams 
Lott."  She  found  the  people  possessed  of  as  "large  a  por- 
tion of  mother  witt,  and  sometimes  larger  than  those  who 
have  been  brought  up  in  Citties"  but  needing  "benefitt  both 
of  education  and  conversation. "  Making  shrewd  comments 
she  reached  Rye,  and  stopped  at  a  tavern  where  she  ordered 
a  fricassee,  but  could  not  eat  it ;  she  was  then  conducted  to 
her  bedroom,  by  way  of  a  very  narrow  stairway.    She  says: 

arriving  at  my  apartment,  a  little  Lento  Chamber  furnisht  among 
other  Rubbish  with  a  high  Bed  and  a  Low  one, — Little  Miss  went 
to  scratch  up  my  Kennell,  which  Russelled  as  if  she'd  been  in  the 
Barn  among  the  Husks,  and  suppose  such  was  the  contents  of 
the  tickin — nevertheless  being  exceedingly  weary,  down  I  lay 
my  poor  Carkes,  and  found  my  covering  as  scanty  as  my  Bed  was 
hard.  Annon  I  heard  another  Russelling  noise  in  the  Room — 
called  to  know  the  matter, — Little  Miss  said  she  was  making  a 
bed  for  the  men;  who,  when  they  were  in  Bed,  complained  their 
leggs  lay  out  by  reason  of  its  shortness.  My  poor  bones  com- 
plained bitterly,  not  being  used  to  such  Lodgings;  and  so  did  the 
man  who  was  with  us:  and  poor  I  made  but  one  Grone,  which  was 
from  the  time  I  went  to  bed  to  the  time  I  Riss,  which  was  about 
three  in  the  morning.     Setting  up  by  the  Fire  till  Light. 

Through  mud,  forests,  and  all  sorts  of  difficulties  she  made 
her  journey  to  New  York  and  home  again  in  Boston,  and 
after  an  absence  of  five  months,  she  broke  out  into  the 
following  verse: 

Now  I've  returned  to  Sarah  Knight's, 
Thro'  many  toils  and  many  frights. 
Over  great  rocks  and  many  stones, 
God  has  presarv'd  from  fractured  bones. 

In  171 1,  the  General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  voted  that 
"a  highway  be  laid  out  from  Providence  through  Warwick 
and  West  Greenwich  to  Plainfield,"  and  the  following  year 
the  legislature  of  Connecticut  voted  that  the  selectmen  of 


Development  of  tKe  HigK-ways  253 

Plainfield  lay  out  at  once  a  road  to  make  the  connection 
eastward  from  the  Quinnebaug  River ;  a  part  of  the  distance 
the  road  was  four  rods  wide,  and  elsewhere  eight  rods. 
Highways  improved  slowly :  at  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth 
century  there  was  no  good  road  through  Thompson,  except 
mean  gangways  to  Boston  and  Hartford,  crooked  paths, 
winding  among  "rocks,  mountains  and  miry  swamps,"  which 
had  been  trodden  out  by  the  people,  and  made  barely  pas- 
sable. It  was  in  1732,  that  the  first  was  reported  in  that 
section,  and  soon  after  that,  references  are  found  to  roads  "  to 
the  meeting-house"  from  the  houses  of  "a  considerable  num- 
ber of  the  nabors";  and  some  of  those  "nabors"  were  com- 
pelled to  pull  down  twelve  pairs  of  bars  before  they  reached 
the  village.  The  layout  of  the  early  roads  depended  largely 
on  the  location  of  the  houses,  and  since  it  was  customary  to 
build  on  the  hilltops,  perhaps  as  greater  security  against  the 
Indians,  the  roads  were  as  hilly  as  possible.  The  roads  were 
also  poor  even  in  Hartford,  where  wheels  sunk  to  the  hub  in 
the  native  clay  of  Pearl  Street  after  the  nineteenth  century  was 
well  advanced.  About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
some  effort  was  made  to  improve  Main  Street,  but  little  was 
done  then  or  for  fifty  years  afterwards  except  to  fill  the  worst 
holes  and  quagmires  with  stones.  Benevolent  farmers  in 
Wethersfield,  and  no  doubt  in  other  towns,  kept  oxen  yoked 
in  "mud  time"  to  relieve  distressed  teamsters,  and  there 
is  a  tradition  that,  near  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
Mrs.  Daniel  Wadsworth  on  Thanksgiving  Day  was  unable 
to  cross  Main  Street  from  her  home  near  City  Hall  to 
Colonel  Wadsworth's  home  on  the  Atheneum  lot,  except  on 
horseback.  In  1774,  when  the  county  jail  was  on  Trumbull 
Street,  the  prisoners  petitioned  that  the  jail  limits  be  ex- 
tended to  the  court-house  on  the  east,  that  the  charitable 
who  might  aid  them  could  get  to  them,  since  "all  the  roads 
which  lead  to  it  (the  Hartford  jail)  being  for  a  considerable 
part  of  the  year  miry  and  uncomfortable  to  walk  in. " 

Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  horses  were  more  numer- 


254  -^  History  of  Connecticvit 

ous  though  the  drain  to  the  West  Indies  was  heavy  and  con- 
stant. The  Narragansett  pacers  were  much  bred,  and  highly 
esteemed;  heavy  draft  horses  were  also  imported,  and  from 
them  sprang  a  race  of  powerful  animals.  Coaches  were  not 
common  for  years,  though  John  Winthrop  had  one  in  1685, 
and  Andros  in  1687.  Roads  were  too  poor  for  them  outside 
of  the  towns,  and  the  Puritan  leaders  lamented  their  coming 
as  savoring  of  luxury  and  extravagance.  A  variety  of 
carriages  came  into  use  as  the  roads  improved,  and  wealth 
increased.  There  were  the  calash,  a  chaise  with  a  folding 
top,  the  chaise  with  the  fixed  top,  a  two- wheeled  gig  with 
no  top,  the  sulky  for  one  traveler;  these  being  hung  on 
thorough-braces.  There  was  also  a  four-wheeled  carriage 
called  a  chariot.  There  is  a  reference  in  an  inventory  of 
1690,  to  a  "sley, "and  Bostonians  had  such  vehicles  for 
snow,  though  they  were  not  common  in  Connecticut  until 
a  generation  later. 

It  was  a  little  before  the  Revolution  that  the  first  chaise 
appeared  in  Norwich;  owned  by  Samuel  Brown,  who  was 
fined  for  driving  in  it  to  church,  since  the  rolling  of  the 
wheels  broke  the  solemn  and  holy  stillness  of  the  Sabbath, 
At  the  Revolution  there  were  six  chaises  in  Norwich;  the 
most  wonderful  was  that  of  General  Jabez  Huntington,  the 
first  in  town  with  a  top  that  could  be  thrown  back,  being  a 
large,  low,  square-bodied  affair,  studded  with  brass  nails. 
Another  belonged  to  Dr.  Daniel  Lathrop,  said  to  have  been 
the  first  druggist  in  the  state.  This  had  a  yellow  body  and 
large  windows  in  the  sides  of  the  top.  We  find  references 
to  carriage-making  in  Windham  Green  in  1808,  and  in  the 
following  year  a  wagon  owned  by  Roger  Huntington  of 
Windham  was  sent  to  Leicester  for  a  load  of  machine  cards, 
and  there  could  not  have  been  more  curiosity  manifested 
along  the  road  if  it  had  been  a  menagerie.  At  Woodstock 
a  crowd  gathered  to  examine  the  new  vehicle  that  was  to 
kill  the  horses.  One  man  had  seen  such  a  thing  in  Hartford, 
"and  the  horse  dragging  it  was  fagged  nearly  to  death." 


The  Stage  Coach  America 

Drawn  by  Capt.  Basil  Hall,  R.  M.,  by  means  of  a  camera  obscura 


Chaise  belonging  to  Sheriff  Ward  of  Worcester 

From  a  Photo,  by  H.  C.  Hammond 


Development  of  tKe  Hi^H-ways  255 

On  the  return  the  next  day  with  a  load,  Esquire  McClellan 
and  the  others  decided  "that  perhaps  such  wagons  might 
come  into  use  after  all." 

Taverns  came  early,  and  under  order  of  the  General 
Court  in  1644,  they  were  established  "not  only  in  Hartford, 
but  others  in  each  town  upon  our  river. "  An  old  authority 
tells  what  a  guest  might  expect: 

Clean  sheets  to  lie  in  wherein  no  man  had  been  lodged  since  they 
came  from  the  landresse,  and  have  a  servante  to  kindle  his  fire 
and  one  to  pull  off  his  boots  and  make  them  clean,  and  have  the 
hoste  and  hostess  to  visit  him,  and  to  eat  with  the  hoste  or  at  a 
common  table  if  he  pleases,  or  eat  in  his  chamber,  commanding 
what  meate  he  will  according  to  his  appetite.  Yea,  the  kitchen 
being  open  to  him  to  order  the  meat  to  be  dressed  as  he  liketh 
it  best. 

The  landlord  was  not  to  allow  a  person  to  be  intoxicated 
in  his  house,  or  to  drink  excessively,  or  to  tipple  after  nine 
at  night.  Reference  has  been  made  in  an  earlier  chapter  to 
the  tavern  of  Jeremy  Adams  on  Main  Street,  Hartford, 
where  the  legislature  held  its  meetings  for  nearly  fifty  years. 
Quite  as  famous  was  the  Black  Horse  Tavern,  which  was 
built  near  the  line  of  Main  Street,  not  far  from  the  Atheneum, 
and  for  half  a  century  it  was  the  most  widely  known  of  all  the 
inns  in  the  region.  After  a  time  the  Bunch  of  Grapes  Tavern 
of  David  Bull  outstripped  its  neighbor  in  popularity.  Many 
taverns  were  poor  affairs,  as  Madame  Knight  discovered. 
From  the  first,  they  were  closely  connected  with  the  church, 
and  were  licensed  to  promote  public  worship.  It  was  usually 
next  to  the  church,  and  such  proximity  was  the  single  con- 
dition on  which  it  was  permitted  to  sell  "beare. "  There 
is  a  record  of  a  permission  granted  to  John  Vyall  in  1651, — 
"libertie  to  keep  a  house  of  Common  Entertainment,  if 
the  County  Court  consent,  provided  he  keepe  it  near  the 
new  meeting  house," — convenient  for  worshipers  and 
voters.     Strict  laws  regulated  taverns,  and  in  New  Haven 


256  A  History  of  Connecticut 

twenty  acres  of  land  was  set  apart  to  pasture  the  horses  of 
travelers  in. 

Just  before  the  Revolution,  John  Adams  wrote  of  aji  En- 
field landlord  as  follows:  "Gated  and  drank  tea  at  Peases — a 
smart  house  and  landlord  truly ;  well-dressed  with  his  ruffles 
&c.  I  found  he  was  the  great  man  of  the  town,  representative 
as  well  as  tavern-keeper ;  retailers  and  taverners  are  generally 
in  the  country,  assessors,  select-men,  representatives  and 
esquires. "  Notices  of  town  meetings,  elections,  new  laws,  and 
ordinances  of  administration  were  posted  in  the  taverns,  where 
also  could  be  found  bills  of  sale,  records  of  transfer,  business 
exchanges,  and  daily  gossip, — a  local  substitute  for  a  daily 
paper.  Distances  were  more  apt  to  be  reckoned  from  tavern 
to  tavern  than  from  town  to  town.  Courts  and  town  meet- 
ings were  sometimes  held  there,  as  well  as  committee 
meetings  and  consultations  of  selectmen.  Care  was  taken 
to  clear  the  tavern  when  the  time  came  for  public  worship  in 
the  bleak  meeting-house,  and  citizens  were  frozen  out  of  the 
one  to  be  frozen  within  the  sacred  refrigerator.  The  Black 
Horse  Tavern,  which  was  built  in  1732,  by  Samuel  Flagg  on 
Main  Street,  Hartford,  nearly  opposite  the  First  Church 
in  its  present  location,  was  for  half  a  century  the  most  widely 
known  of  all  the  inns  for  miles  around,  and  later,  the  Bunch 
of  Grapes  Tavern  of  David  Bull,  standing  near  the  corner 
of  Asylum  and  Main  streets,  was  more  popular. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  tavern  was  the  stage-driver 
with  his  stage.  As  early  as  171 7,  the  General  Assembly 
voted  to  grant  Captain  John  Munson  of  New  Haven,  to- 
gether with  his  executors,  administrators,  and  assigns  the  sole 
and  only  privilege  of  transporting  persons  and  goods  between 
Hartford  and  New  Haven  for  seven  years.  The  only  con- 
dition was  that  on  the  first  Monday  of  every  month,  except 
December,  January,  February  and  March,  he  should,  if  the 
weather  permitted,  drive  to  Hartford  and  back  again  within 
the  week.  In  winter  there  was  no  regular  communication 
between  the  two  cities  by  stage  or  boat.     The  most  famous 


Development  of  tKe  HigK-ways  257 

stage-driver  in  those  days  was  Captain  Levi  Pease,  who  was 
born  in  Enfield  in  1740,  and  on  October  20,  1783,  he  started 
a  stage-route  from  Boston  to  Hartford,  leaving  Boston  at 
six  in  the  morning,  and  a  man  named  Sykes  set  out  from 
Hartford,  changing  horses  at  Shrewsbury.  Pease  advertised 
to  go  in  "two  convenient  wagons,"  but  the  tradition  is  that 
the  "carriages  were  old  and  shackling,"  and  the  harnesses 
partly  ropes.  At  ten  at  night  the  passengers  put  up  at  a 
tavern,  and  were  called  at  three,  or  before,  the  next  morning. 
If  the  roads  were  heavy  with  mud  or  snow,  the  passengers 
were  expected  to  get  out  to  lessen  the  load.  The  wagon  of 
Pease's  stage-route  was  at  first  almost  empty,  but  a  resolute 
man  like  him  was  undisturbed,  and  he  started  a  movement 
for  better  roads,  an  effort  which  resulted  in  the  first  Massa- 
chusetts turnpike,  which  was  laid  out  in  1808.  Pease  has 
been  called  the  "Father  of  the  American  Turnpike." 
After  a  time  there  was  the 

New  Post-Coach  Line  Dispatch,  in  six  hours  from  Hartford  to 
New  Haven,  leaving  Hartford  every  Tuesday,  Thursday  and 
Saturday  at  eleven  in  the  forenoon,  passing  through  Farmington, 
Southington  and  Cheshire,  and  reaching  New  Haven  in  time 
for  the  steamboat.  .  .  .  The  above  line  of  Post-Coaches 
are  new  and  modern  in  style,  horses  selected  with  great  care 
and  are  first  rate,  drivers  that  are  experienced,  careful  and 
steady. 

The  horses  were  usually  tough  and  wiry,  weighing  about 
a  thousand  pounds.  Stages  became  less  rude  and  primitive 
as  the  turnpikes  spread,  and  as  the  schedule  time  was  ten 
miles  an  hour,  a  breakneck  speed  was  required  down  hill 
to  compensate  for  the  slow  up-hill  progress.  A  frightened 
passenger,  after  a  terrible  jolting  down  the  western  slope  of 
Talcott  mountain,  stuck  his  head  out  of  the  window,  and 
beckoning  to  the  driver  said,  "My  friend,  be  you  goin' 
down  any  further?  Because  if  you  air,  I'm  goin'  to  get  out 
right  here.  I  want  to  stay  on  the  outside  of  the  airth  a 
17 


258  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

leetle  longer. "  Another  traveler,  who,  to  relieve  the  horses, 
had  toiled  on  foot  up  a  long  hill  in  Barkhamsted,  entered 
the  tavern,  and  asked  if  the  Lord  was  in.  "For,"  he 
explained,  "it  seems  to  me  that  we  've  come  high  enough  to 
find  Him." 

After  a  time  the  roads  leading  to  the  cities  were  used  in 
the  winter  by  farmers,  who  filled  their  two-horse  pungs  or 
one-horse  pods  with  the  products  of  toil  and  skill,  and  drove 
to  market.  They  carried  dressed  pigs,  a  deer  or  two,  fir- 
kins of  butter,  cheeses  in  casks,  poultry,  beans,  peas,  corn, 
skins  of  mink,  fox  and  fisher-cat,  birch-brooms  the  boys  had 
made,  stockings,  mittens,  and  yarn.  They  carried  their 
rations  with  them  with  feed  for  the  horses;  rye  and  injun, 
doughnuts,  pies,  cold  roast  sparerib,  and  inevitably  some 
frozen  bean  porridge,  and  when  the  pung  was  crowded,  the 
chunk  of  porridge  was  suspended  by  a  string  to  the  side  of 
the  .sleigh;  a  hatchet  was  put  in  to  chop  off  a  dinner  of 
this  nourishing  food,  called  by  the  Indian  name  of  tuck-a- 
nuck  or  mitchin.  On  reaching  the  city  the  goods  were 
disposed  of  and  a  less  bulky  load  carried  home;  a  few  yards 
of  cotton  cloth,  spices,  raisins,  fish-hooks,  powder,  shot,  a 
few  pieces  of  English  crockery,  jackknives,  and  ribbons. 
Emigrant  wagons  were  often  seen  on  the  roads,  and  the 
peddler,  the  commercial  link  between  city  and  country,  was 
welcome  everywhere,  as  he  carried  tinware,  dry  goods,  and  a 
hundred  notions.  Many  a  pack  peddler  was  seen,  and  as  he 
plodded  along  the  dusty  road,  he  dreamed  of  the  time  when 
he  should  have  a  wagon,  and  of  the  still  more  distant  day 
when  he  should  own  a  permanent  stand  in  the  city,  whence 
he  would  send  out  wagons  in  all  directions. 

It  was  an  important  epoch  in  Connecticut  history  when 
the  turnpikes  came  in,  for  then  began  some  method  in  build- 
ing roads.  There  had  been  the  trails  and  bridle-paths  from 
scattered  farms  to  one  another  and  to  the  church,  store,  and 
mill,  and  there  had  also  been  communication  between  the 
towns  by  the  country  roads,  which  were  sandy  in  summer  and 


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Development  of  tHe  Hi^H-ways  259 

buried  in  snow  in  winter,  and  in  the  spring,  when  the  frost 
was  coming  out,  almost  impassable.  The  story  of  the  high- 
way to  the  Great  Green  Woods,  as  the  north  half  of  Litchfield 
County  was  called,  illustrates  the  way  roads  were  built. 
Dissatisfied  with  the  rude  bridle-paths,  the  inhabitants  of 
Simsbury  and  Farmington  joined  the  settlers  of  New  Hart- 
ford in  1752,  in  a  petition  to  the  County  Court  for  an  order 
to  open  a  road  from  Hartford  to  New  Hartford.  After  the 
charter  for  the  road  was  granted  there  came  a  war  of  words 
with  emphatic  language  concerning  the  layout,  and  when 
the  Old  North  Road  was  completed  it  was  a  wonder  to  the 
world  that  a  direct  route  could  be  found  through  swamps  and 
over  steep  hills,  with  all  sorts  of  queer  turns  to  keep  it  within 
the  two-mile  distance  from  a  straight  line,  yet  avoid  rocks, 
and  accommodate  as  many  farmers  as  possible.  Travel  on 
the  road  was  largely  on  horseback,  and  the  wagons  found  a 
single  roadway,  with  slight  opportunity  to  turn  out.  In 
the  Revolution,  troops  and  munitions  passed  over  that  road, 
and  detachments  of  Burgoyne's  army  marched  there  as 
prisoners  of  war.  Iron  was  carried  there  on  the  way  from 
Salisbury  to  Hartford;  ship-builders  found  in  the  Litchfield 
forest  lumber  and  masts;  grist-mills  were  built  on  the 
streams,  often  with  sawmills  attached,  and  the  road  was 
convenient  to  some  of  these.  It  was  over  that  road  that 
Ethan  Allen  marched  toward  Ticonderoga;  rugged  men 
hastened  over  it  toward  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill. 

When  the  New  London  Turnpike  Company  was  chartered 
in  1800,  it  was  ordered  that  all  were  to  be  exempt  from  pay- 
ing toll  who  were  going  to  attend  worship,  funerals,  school, 
society,  town  or  freemen's  meetings,  to  do  military  duty, 
attend  training,  go  to  and  from  grist-mills,  and  attend  to 
ordinary  farm  business.  The  towns  on  this  forty-two-mile 
stretch  from  Hartford  to  New  London  were  to  build  and 
maintain  bridges  over  certain  streams.  The  charter  required 
four  toll-gates  on  the  road  and  the  toll  rate  was  as  follows: 
four  cents  for  a  person  and  horse  or  for  an  empty  one-horse 


26o  -A  History  of  ConnecticMt 

cart ;  six  and  a  quarter  cents  for  a  one-horse  pleasure  sleigh, 
an  empty  two-horse  cart,  or  a  loaded  one-horse  cart ;  twelve 
and  a  half  cents  for  a  chaise,  sulky,  or  a  two-horse  loaded 
sleigh,  also  for  a  loaded  cart,  sled,  sleigh,  or  wagon;  twenty- 
five  cents  for  a  four-wheeled  pleasure  carriage  or  a  stage- 
coach ;  two  cents  for  every  horse,  mule,  or  cow,  and  half  a 
cent  for  every  sheep  or  pig.  It  was  not  until  1857,  that  this 
road  was  wholly  turned  over  to  the  towns  through  which  it 
ran.  Toll-gates  were  a  favorite  resort  for  the  people  who 
were  eager  to  learn  something  of  the  doings  of  the  great 
world.  It  was  provided  in  some  of  the  charters  of  the  turn- 
pike companies  that  when  the  net  earnings  exceeded  twelve 
per  cent.,  the  road  reverted  to  the  state. 

One  of  the  problems  of  the  highway  was  the  crossing  of 
rivers,  and  the  earliest  method  was  by  fords  and  ferries. 
As  early  as  1681,  Thomas  Cad  well  of  Hartford  was  licensed 
to 

Keepe  the  ferry  for  seven  years  with  sufficient  boats  to  carry 
over  horses  and  men,  and  a  canoe  for  a  single  person.  .  .  . 
Fare  for  horse  and  man,  6d  if  not  of  this  town.  Fare  for  a  man, 
2d  if  not  of  this  town.  Fare  for  a  man,  id  in  silver  if  of  this 
town  or  2d  in  other  pay.  Fare  for  horse  and  man,  3d  in  silver 
if  of  this  town  or  6d  in  other  pay.  And  of  those  of  this  town 
whom  he  carry s  over  after  the  daylight  is  shutt  in,  they  shall 
pay  sixpence  a  horse  and  man  in  money  or  8d  in  other  pay. 
For  a  single  person,  2d  or  3d. 

In  1 69 1,  complaint  was  made  of  the  great  disorder  at  the 
ferry  on  Sundays  because  of  the  many  who  were  on  their 
way  to  church,  and  three  years  later  the  difficulty  was  re- 
lieved when  the  people  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  obtained 
the  "liberty  of  a  minister  among  them."  In  1712,  the  legis- 
lature granted  Richard  Keeney  of  Hartford  liberty  to  keep  a 
ferry  near  the  bounds  of  Hartford  and  Wethersfield,  and 
ten  years  later  another  ferry  was  established  near  the  former. 
The  old  records  contain  many  references  to  ferries  at  various 


Development  of  tHe  HigK^ways  261 

points  on  the  Connecticut  and  the  other  rivers,  with  a  rigid 
fixing  of  rates.  In  1745,  the  fares  for  the  Hartford  ferry- 
were  9d  for  a  man,  horse,  and  load;  for  a  man,  4d;  for  meat 
cattle,  yd  a  head,  and  2d  for  sheep.  In  1758,  Hartford  voted 
that  two  boats  be  used  at  the  ferry,  and  two  years  later,  that 
one  of  the  two  ferrymen  should  live  on  the  east  side. 

As  Hartford  grew  and  its  business  increased,  it  became 
evident  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  that  the  ferry  was 
insufficient,  and  on  April  24,  18 10,  a  bridge  across  the  Con- 
necticut was  opened  to  the  public.  The  construction  of  this 
bridge  was  pushed  through  by  the  Hartford  Bridge  Company, 
the  president  of  which  was  John  Morgan,  and  the  cost  of 
the  bridge — ninety-six  thousand  dollars,  was  obtained  by 
the  sale  of  assessable  shares.  The  toll  was  twelve  and  a 
half  cents  for  a  double  team,  sixteen  cents  for  a  barouche, 
twenty-five  cents  for  a  stage,  and  two  cents  for  a  foot  pas- 
senger. This  bridge  was  so  seriously  injured  by  the  freshet 
of  1 8 18,  that  the  company  vacated  its  charter,  but  was 
persuaded  to  go  on  under  a  more  favorable  charter  and 
rebuild.  The  second  bridge  of  18 18,  was  seriously  injured 
in  the  great  storm  of  January  23,  1839.  The  growing  de- 
mands for  a  free  bridge  came  to  a  climax  in  1889,  when  the 
state  paid  the  company  forty  per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  the 
old  bridge,  and  Hartford,  East  Hartford,  Glastonbury, 
Manchester,  and  South  Windsor  the  remaining  sixty  per 
cent.  The  bridge  was  made  free  on  September  11,  1889, 
burned  on  May  17,  1895,  and  as  the  pine  lumber  sent 
out  its  blaze,  twenty  thousand  people  looked  on.  Work 
on  a  temporary  structure  began  at  once  and  a  month  later 
it  was  open  to  traffic,  but  before  a  year  passed  it  was  swept 
away.  A  second  temporary  bridge  was  opened  on  May  4, 1896, 
and  that  lasted  until  the  present  bridge  was  ready  in  1907. 
The  stone  bridge  was  built  under  the  auspices  of  a  commis- 
sion appointed  by  the  legislature  soon  after  the  burning  of 
its  predecessor.  Its  total  length  is  twelve  hundred  feet 
lacking  seven  and  a  half,  and  it  is  said  to  be  the  largest 


262  A  History  of  Connecticut 

stone  bridge  in  the  world.  It  is  of  granite,  and  the  stone 
came  from  Leete's  Island  and  Stony  Creek.  There  are  nine 
spans,  and  the  weight  of  the  largest  finished  stone  is  forty 
tons.  The  cost  apportioned  among  the  towns  of  the  bridge 
district  was  one  million  six  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  present  interest  in  good  roads  and  promotion  of  them 
owe  much  to  the  invention  of  the  Blake  stone-breaker. 
This  machine  had  its  origin  in  the  brain  of  Eli  Whitney  Blake 
of  New  Haven,  a  relative  of  Eli  Whitney  of  cotton-gin  fame. 
The  Blake  Stone-Breaker  is  ranked  with  the  great  labor- 
saving  inventions  of  the  world.  Wherever  railroads  are 
to  be  ballasted,  foundations  of  bridges  or  great  buildings  to 
be  laid,  and  roads  macadamized,  the  Blake  Stone-Breaker 
is  used.  Blake  was  led  to  make  the  invention  by  seeing  the 
need  as  he  superintended  the  macadamizing  of  a  street  in 
New  Haven.  During  the  ten  years  between  1862,  and 
1872,  the  direct  saving,  computed  from  the  actual  working 
records  of  the  five  hundred  breakers  then  in  use,  was  over 
fifty  million  dollars.  Since  that  time  the  machine  has  found 
its  way  over  the  world.  The  systematic  movement  for  good 
roads  began  in  1895,  when  the  legislature  appropriated 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  to  be  distributed  throughout 
the  state,  with  the  conditions  that  the  counties  should  fur- 
nish one- third  and  the  towns  another  third.  In  1897,  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated;  in  1899,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand;  in  1 901,  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand;  in  1903,  the  same;  in  1907,  three- 
quarters  of  a  million,  a  third  of  which  was  for  trunk  lines, 
of  which  the  longest  is  the  road  from  Westerly  to  Port 
Chester — one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long.  In  18 12, 
there  were  three  thousand  miles  of  roads  in  the  state,  and  in 
19 1 3,  fifteen  thousand.  Much  attention  has  been  given  of 
late  to  a  system  of  trunk  lines,  of  which  there  are  fourteen, 
gridironing  the  state,  enabling  the  commissioner  to  superin- 
tend the  outlay  of  appropriations  with  foresight  and  system. 
The  General  Assembly  of  191 1,  appropriated  for  two  years 


The  Connecticut  River  Bridge 


The  Connecticut  River  Bridge 

The  Original  Bridge  was  Built  1809  and  Carried  away  by  Freshet  in  March,  181  i 

Rebuilt  as  Shown  above  in  December,  1818.     Became  a  Free  Bridge 

September  11,  1889.     Destroyed  by  Fire  May  17,  1895 


Development  of  tKe  lii^K-ways  263 

two  million  dollars  for  trunk  lines,  in  one  million  of  which 
the  towns  have  a  share,  two  hundred  thousand  for  repairs, 
and  twenty  thousand  for  special  post-roads. 

The  coming  of  the  automobile  calls  for  better  roads  and 
furnishes  more  money  to  make  and  repair  them,  and  now  oil 
and  tar  harden  and  coat  the  surface  of  them  that  the  swift 
tires  may  not  destroy  them.  Multiplication  of  accidents 
at  grade  crossings,  since  touring  cars  raced  over  the  state, 
has  given  an  impetus  to  the  movement  to  remove  this  fertile 
source  of  danger.  It  is  a  long  cry  from  the  Indian  trails, 
the  Bay  Path,  and  the  Old  Connecticut  Path  to  the  Hartford 
and  New  Haven  Turnpike,  carefully  graded  and  smooth  as 
a  floor,  with  its  flying  motor-cars  from  every  state  in  the 
Union,  suggesting  the  complex  conditions  into  which  the 
commonwealth  has  grown. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  GREAT  AWAKENING 

WE  have  sketched  in  an  earlier  chapter  a  decHne  in  the 
religious  life  and  in  the  morals  of  the  people  as  the 
seventeenth  century  advanced.  Quarrelsomeness,  licen- 
tiousness, drunkenness,  lying,  and  slander  were  widespread 
tokens  of  the  decay  of  those  principles  of  conduct  for  which 
the  Puritans  stood.  The  teachings  of  the  pulpit  had  not 
changed,  but  formality  was  displacing  earnestness  and 
purity  of  life.  In  17 14,  the  General  Assembly  passed  resolu- 
tions, calling  on  the  General  Association  of  churches  to 
inquire  into  the  religious  indifference,  the  profanity  and 
immorality  that  threatened  to  ruin  the  land.  The  ministers 
reported  in  17 15,  that  they  had  found  a  lack  of  Bibles  in 
the  homes,  neglect  of  worship,  catechizing  and  family  gov- 
ernment; that  irreligion,  tale-bearing,  defamation,  cal- 
umny, contempt  of  law  and  intemperance  abounded. 
The  legislature  then  ordered  all  judges  and  justices  of  the 
peace  to  be  diligent  and  strict  to  enforce  all  laws  for  the 
suppression  and  punishment  of  immorality  and  irreligion; 
that  selectmen  and  constables  were  to  see  to  it  that  children 
should  be  educated;  that  every  householder  was  to  obtain 
a  Bible,  if  he  had  none,  and  that  catechisms  and  other  "good 
books  of  practical  godliness  be  distributed."  Officers  were 
bidden  to  make  diligent  search  for  breaches  of  education, 
profanity,  lying,  and  tippling  at  unlicensed  houses. 

After  making  all  needful  allowance  for  exaggeration  and 

264 


TKe  Great  AwaKening  265 

extravagant  language  so  common  in  those  days,  the  condition 
of  affairs  evidently  was  gloomy,  and  this  was  not  strange  in 
view  of  the  demoralizing  influence  of  the  wars,  and  the  passing 
of  many  of  the  ablest  and  best  men,  but  a  change  was  coming ; 
the  pendulum  was  about  to  make  its  return  so  familiar  to  the 
student  of  history.  There  was  a  deepening  seriousness  here 
and  there;  an  effort  to  quench  frivolity  as  in  the  solemn 
church  trial  in  Columbia  in  1738,  when  Timothy  Hutchinson 
was  required  to  make  humble  confession  of  sin  for  smiling 
in  church.  There  were  local  alarms  and  some  reforms  in 
view  of  calamity,  drought,  harvest-failure,  or  excessive 
zeal  of  a  devoted  minister.  There  were  endeavors  here  and 
there  to  maintain  the  strictness  of  the  forms  of  a  religious 
community.  A  story  is  told  of  Colonel  Ethan  Allen,  that  he 
was  once  on  military  service  in  Connecticut,  when  a  little 
bushy-headed  grand  juror  emerged  from  his  cabin,  and 
seizing  the  bridle-rein  of  the  colonel's  horse  attempted  to 
make  an  arrest.  The  colonel,  sternly  eyeing  the  dignitary 
of  the  law,  drew  his  sword  and  flourishing  it  aloft,  exclaimed, 
"You  little  woodchuck!  Get  back  into  your  burrow,  or 
I  '11  cut  your  head  off,  "  and  Grand  Juror  Balcomb  prudently 
retired.  On  the  whole  the  intensity  of  the  early  fervor,  the 
demand  for  rigid  self-examination,  the  requirement  that 
one  should  have  in  conversion  an  experience  little  short  of  the 
terrific,  had  passed  into  the  chill  and  indifference  of  the  Half- 
way Covenant  period,  and  an  eclipse  of  spiritual  power  and 
moral  seriousness.  To  use  an  expression  often  on  the  lips 
of  the  anxious  watchmen  on  the  walls  of  Zion,  the  churches 
had  little  more  than  a  "name  to  live."  The  law  of  171 7, 
"for  the  better  ordering  and  regulating  parishes  and  societies," 
had  made  the  minister  the  choice  of  the  majority  of  the 
townsmen  who  were  voters,  thus  reversing  the  early  condi- 
tion, and  merging  the  church  into  the  town.  There  was 
another  factor  in  the  influences  working  toward  a  change,  a 
serious  commercial  depression,  due  to  years  of  floating  and 
unstable  currency.     The  currency  of  Connecticut  had  been 


266  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

firmer  than  that  of  other  colonies,  but  her  paper  money 
experiments  from  17 14,  to  1749,  grew  more  and  more  demoral- 
izing: in  1740,  she  owed  thirty-nine  thousand  pounds; 
taxation  was  heavy,  wages  low  and  prices  high,  and  in  the 
absence  of  the  religious  fervor  of  a  century  earlier,  the  people, 
though  mainly  descendants  of  the  Puritans,  now  preeminently 
commercial  in  their  interests,  were  discouraged  and  depressed. 
With  the  relaxing  of  the  morals  there  was  a  tightening 
of  the  constraint  of  the  law,  and  the  Assembly,  in  1723, 
ordered  that  there  should  be  a  penalty  of  twenty  shillings 
for  attending  a  preaching  service  conducted  by  an  unordained 
minister,  and  the  minister  who  preached  without  approval 
of  the  Congregational  Church  should  be  fined  ten  pounds  and 
receive  thirty  stripes  for  every  offense.  In  May,  1740,  it  was 
enacted  that  every  minister,  who  went  to  a  parish  in  the  care 
of  another  minister,  to  preach  or  exhort,  should  be  fined  a 
hundred  pounds,  and  if  a  stranger  preached  in  a  parish 
without  the  desire  or  license  of  the  settled  minister  and  the 
majority  of  the  people,  he  should  be  sentenced  as  a  vagrant. 
Such  was  the  condition  through  New  England  when  in  the 
Northampton  church,  one  of  the  most  important  churches 
of  New  England,  Jonathan  Edwards,  son  of  Rev.  Timothy 
Edwards  of  South  Windsor,  preached  the  sermons  in  Decem- 
ber, 1734,  which  started  the  Great  Awakening.  It  was  a 
movement  which  spread  slowly  through  much  of  New  Eng- 
land, the  Jerseys,  the  backwoods  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
southern  colonies.  There  was  fever  heat  in  Northampton, 
and  Edwards  preached  in  several  Connecticut  River  towns, 
setting  forth  the  terrors  of  God's  anger,  and  the  dangers  of 
the  impenitent ;  the  eternity  of  hell  torments  was  described 
with  all  the  genius  of  the  most  powerful  intellect  in  America, 
and  the  greatest  theologian  this  country  has  produced.  His 
sermon  in  Enfield,  July  7,  1741,  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  severe 
side  of  the  preaching  of  Edwards,  Bellamy,  and  others  of  that 
time.  This  sermon  is  based  on  the  text,  "Their  foot  shall 
slide  in  due  time."     It  contains  the  often-quoted  descrip- 


Jonathan  Edwards  (1703-1758) 

From  an  Old  Paintins: 


THe  Great  A"waKenin^  267 

tion  of  God  holding  the  sinner  over  hell  forever  as  one  holds 
a  spider  over  the  fire.     Toward  the  close  he  said : 

If  you  cry  to  God  to  pity  you,  He  will  be  so  far  from  pitying  you 
in  your  doleful  case,  or  shewing  you  the  least  regard  or  favor,  that 
instead  of  that,  He  will  only  tread  you  under  foot,  And  though 
He  will  know  that  you  cannot  bear  the  weight  of  omnipotence 
treading  upon  you,  yet  He  will  not  regard  that,  but  He  will  crush 
you  under  His  feet  without  mercy;  He  will  crush  out  your  blood, 
and  make  it  fly,  and  it  will  be  sprinkled  on  His  garments,  so  as 
to  stain  all  His  raiment.  He  will  not  only  hate  you,  but  He  will 
have  you  in  the  utmost  contempt;  no  place  will  be  thought  fit 
for  you,  but  under  His  feet  to  be  trodden  down  as  the  mire  of  the 
streets. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  this  was  the  staple  of  the 
preaching,  for  Edwards  said  that  he  found  no  other  discourses 
more  effective  than  those  on  the  divine  sovereignty  regard- 
ing salvation,  prayer,  and  punishment;  he  also  dwelt  much 
on  the  all-sufficiency  of  Christ  and  the  joy  of  a  life  of  faith. 
The  movement  spread  through  Windsor,  East  Windsor, 
Coventry,  Lebanon,  Durham,  Stratford,  New  Haven,  Guil- 
ford, and  Groton.  Toward  the  end  of  1735,  it  waned,  to  be  re- 
newed five  years  later,  when  George  Whitfield  made  a  tour 
of  the  colonies,  and  was  received  with  an  ardor  which  often 
became  frenzy.  On  his  tour  from  Hartford  to  New  Haven, 
he  reached  Middletown,  October  23,  1740,  and  Nathan  Cole 
of  Kensington  tells  this  graphic  story  of  the  day : 

Now  it  pleased  god  to  send  mr.  whitfield  into  this  land  &  my 
hearing  of  his  preaching  in  Philadelphia  like  one  of  the  old  aposels, 
&  many  thousands  flocking  after  him  to  hear  ye  gospel  and  great 
numbers  were  converted  to  Christ,  i  felt  the  spirit  of  god  drawing 
me  by  conviction  i  longed  to  see  &  hear  him  &  wished  he  would 
come  this  way  and  i  soon  heard  he  was  come  to  new  york  &  ye 
jases  [Jerseys]  &  great  multitudes  flocking  after  him  under  great 
concern  for  their  Soule  and  many  converted  wich  brought  on  my 
concern  more  &  more  hoping  soon  to  see  him  but  next  i  herd  he 


268  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

was  on  long  iland  &  next  at  boston  &  next  at  northampton  & 
then  one  morning  all  on  a  Suding  about  8  or  9  o  Clock  there  came 
a  messenger  &  said  mr.  whitfeld  preached  at  hartford  &  weathers- 
field  yesterday  &  is  to  preach  at  middeltown  this  morning  at 
10  o  clock  i  was  in  my  field  at  work  i  dropt  my  tool  that  i  had  in 
my  hand  &  run  home  &  run  throu  my  house  &  bad  my  wife  get 
ready  quick  to  go  and  hear  mr.  whitfield  preach  at  middeltown 
&  run  to  my  pasture  for  my  hors  with  all  my  might  fearing  i 
should  be  too  late  to  hear  him  i  brought  my  hors  home  &  soon 
mounted  &  took  my  wife  up  &  went  forward  as  fast  as  i  thought 
ye  hors  could  bear,  &  when  my  hors  began  to  be  out  of  breath 
i  would  get  down  &  put  my  wife  on  ye  saddel  &  bid  her  ride  as 
fast  as  she  could  &  not  Stop  or  Slak  for  me  except  i  bad  her  &  so 
i  woould  run  untill  i  was  almost  out  of  breth  &  then  mount  my 
hors  again  &  so  i  did  severel  times  to  favour  my  hors  we  improved 
every  moment  to  get  along  as  if  we  was  fleeing  for  our  lives  all  this 
while  fearing  we  should  be  too  late  to  hear  ye  Sarmon  for  we  had 
twelve  miles  to  ride  dubble  in  littel  more  than  an  hour  &  we  went 
round  by  the  upper  housen  &  parish  &  when  we  came  within 
about  half  a  mile  of  ye  road  that  comes  down  from  hartford 
weathersfield  &  stepney  to  middeltown  on  high  land  i  saw  before 
me  a  cloud  or  fog  rising  i  first  thought  of  from  ye  great  river  but 
as  i  came  nearer  ye  road  i  heard  a  noise  something  like  a  low 
rumbling  thunder  &  i  presently  found  it  was  ye  rumbling  of 
horses  feet  coming  down  ye  road  &  this  Cloud  was  a  Cloud  of  dust 
made  by  the  running  of  horses  feet  it  arose  some  rods  into  ye  air 
over  the  tops  of  ye  hills  and  trees  &  when  i  came  within  about 
twenty  rods  of  ye  road  i  could  see  men  and  horses  Sliping  along  in 
ye  Cloud  like  shadows  &  when  i  came  nearer  it  was  like  a  stedy 
streem  of  horses  &  their  riders  scarcely  a  horse  more  then  his 
length  behind  another  all  of  a  lather  and  some  with  swet  ther 
breath  rooling  out  of  their  noistrels  in  ye  cloud  of  dust  every  jump 
every  hors  semed  to  go  with  all  his  might  to  carry  his  rider  to 
hear  ye  news  from  heaven  for  ye  saving  of  their  Souls  it  made  me 
trembel  to  see  ye  Sight  how  ye  world  was  in  a  strugle  i  found  a 
vacance  between  two  horses  to  Slip  in  my  hors  &  my  wife  said 
law  our  cloaths  will  be  all  spoiled  see  how  they  look  for  they  was 
so  covered  with  dust  that  thay  looked  allmost  all  of  a  coler  coats 
&  hats  &  shirts  &  horses  We  went  down  in  ye  Streem  i  hird  no 


Laurel  in  Winchester.     Laurel  Is  the  State  Flower 


Birthplace  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  South  Windsor 

From  a  Photo 


TKe  Great  A.-waKenin^  269 

man  speak  a  word  all  ye  way  three  mile  but  evry  one  presing 
forward  in  great  hast  &  when  we  gat  down  to  ye  old  meating 
house  thare  was  a  great  multitude  it  was  said  to  be  3  or  4000  of 
people  asembled  together  we  gat  of  from  our  horses  &  shook  off 
ye  dust  &  ye  ministers  was  then  coming  to  ye  meating  house  i 
turned  &  looked  toward  ye  great  river  &  saw  the  fery  boats  run- 
ning swift  forward  &  backward  bringing  over  loads  of  people  ye 
ores  roed  nimble  &  quick  everything  men  horses  &  boats  all  seamed 
to  be  struglin  for  life  ye  land  &  ye  banks  over  ye  river  lookt  black 
with  people  &  horses  all  along  ye  12  miles  i  see  no  man  at  work 
in  his  field  but  all  seamed  to  be  gone — when  i  see  mr.  whitfield 
come  up  upon  ye  Scaffil  he  looked  almost  angellical  a  young  slim 
slender  youth  before  some  thousands  of  people  &  with  a  bold 
undainted  countenance  &  my  hearing  how  god  was  with  him 
everywhere  as  he  came  along  it  solumnized  my  mind  &  put  me  in 
a  trembling  fear  before  he  began  to  preach  for  he  looked  as  if 
he  was  Cloathed  with  authority  from  ye  great  god,  &  a  sweet 
Solemnity  sat  upon  his  brow  &  my  hearing  him  preach  gave  me 
a  heart  wound  by  gods  blessing  my  old  foundation  was  broken 
up  &  i  saw  that  my  righteousness  would  not  save  me  then  i  was 
convinced  of  ye  doctrine  of  Election  &  went  rigt  to  quareling 
with  god  about  it  because  all  that  i  could  do  would  not  save  me  & 
he  had  decreed  from  Eternity  who  should  be  saved  &  who  not  i 
began  to  think  i  was  not  Elected  &  that  god  made  some  for 
heaven  &  me  for  hell  &  i  thought  god  was  not  Just  in  so  doing  i 
thought  i  did  not  stand  on  even  Ground  with  others  if  as  i  thought 
i  was  made  to  be  damned  my  heart  then  rose  against  god  exceed- 
igly  for  his  making  me  for  hell  now  this  distress  lasted  almost 
two  years. 

George  Whitefield  was  twenty-six  years  old,  and  with  his 
intense  earnestness,  marvelous  voice,  dramatic  power  and 
personal  magic  he  could  empty  the  pocket  of  the  cool 
Franklin,  hold  spellbound  the  skeptical  Hume,  the  scientific 
Franklin,  and  the  brilliant  Garrick,  but  he  developed  a  fault- 
finding, censorious  spirit,  which  found  expression  in  drastic 
criticisms  of  ministers  who  did  not  agree  with  his  methods, 
such  as   glorying    in   outcries,    ecstasies,    and    swoonings. 


270  A.  History  of  Connectic\it 

Edwards  records:  "I  thought  Mr.  Whitefield  Hked  me  not 
so  well  for  my  opposing'  those  things."  The  sweeping 
temper  of  the  zealous  evangehst  is  suggested  by  the  record 
he  made  in  his  journal  at  the  close  of  his  first  New  England 
tour,  that  "many,  nay  most  that  preach,  do  not  experi- 
mentally know  Christ, "  He  also  went  so  far  as  to  condemn 
the  two  colleges,  Harvard  and  Yale,  because  they  had  held 
aloof  from  his  frantic  appeals  to  the  nervous  system  as  well 
as  to  the  consciences  of  his  hearers.  Of  these  he  said :  "Their 
Light  has  become  Darkness,  Darkness  that  may  be  felt." 
These  divisive  utterances  and  this  censorious  spirit  found 
vigorous  echoes  in  men  like  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Rev. 
James  Davenport,  who  delighted  in  meetings  thus  described 
by  Dr.  Chauncy  of  Boston: 

The  meeting  was  carried  on  with  what  appeared  to  me  great 
Confusion;  some  screaming  out  in  Distress  and  Atiguish; 
some  praying;  others  singing;  some  jumping  up  and  down: 
others  exhorting;  some  lying  along  on  the  floor,  and  others 
walking  and  talking:  The  whole  with  a  very  great  noise,  to  be 
heard  at  a  mile's  distance,  and  continued  almost  the  whole  night. 

A  town  was  thrown  into  consternation  because  two  children 
of  eleven  and  thirteen  had  a  vision  of  the  Book  of  Life  in 
which  the  heavenly  bookkeeper  had  left  the  Lebanon  page 
blank  paper.  During  this  religious  fervor  and  nerve  excite- 
ment there  were  communities  which  gave  themselves  up  to 
a  kind  of  debauch  of  emotion,  which  was  supposed  to  require 
three  stages :  a  heart-rending  misery  over  one's  sinfulness,  a 
complete  willingness  to  be  saved  or  lost  as  God  wills,  and 
ecstasy  when  one  came  to  feel  that  he  was  one  of  God's 
elect. 

Before  Whitefield's  second  tour,  in  1744,  a  division  had 
arisen  among  ministers  and  churches,  the  General  Assembly 
had  taken  action  to  suppress  irregular  preaching,  and  several 
preachers  were  put  into  jail,  while  the  wave  of  excitement 
subsided  as  rapidly  as  it  rose.     The  results  were  varied: 


TKe  Great  A.-waKeiiins  271 

there  was  a  deepening  of  religious  thought  in  some  minds; 
there  was  a  revolt  against  conventional  religion  with  many ; 
a  break  in  the  Congregational  or  Established  churches;  a 
division  into  denominations;  the  passing  of  the  Half-way 
Covenant,  and  the  springing  up  of  the  famous  New  England 
theology.  An  incident  will  illustrate  the  condition  in 
many  communities.  In  1744,  Ebenezer  and  John  Cleveland 
of  Canterbury,  Yale  students  preparing  for  the  ministry, 
while  home  on  vacation  attended  meetings  at  which  Separa- 
tist or  unordained  preachers  addressed  the  fervent  people, 
who  found  the  Congregational  churches  chilly  and  forbid- 
ding; on  returning  to  college  they  were  summoned  before 
President  Clap  and  called  to  account.  They  admitted  that 
they  had  gone  to  hear  Solomon  Paine  "exercise  his  gift," 
as  had  a  majority  of  the  people  of  their  town;  they  did  not 
realize  that  it  was  a  Separatist  meeting,  and  did  not  suppose 
that  they  were  violating  a  college  law.  The  president  told 
them  that  the  law  of  God  and  of  the  college  was  one,  and 
after  a  severe  cross-questioning,  a  bill  was  read  in  the  hall 
before  faculty  and  students  declaring  that  the  two  young 
men  had  violated  the  laws  of  God,  the  colony,  and  the  college 
by  attending  a  Separatist  meeting,  and  that  they  were  sus- 
pended from  the  college;  on  refusing  to  make  a  public 
confession  of  their  sin  they  were  expelled  from  college,  and 
forbidden  to  enter  any  college  room  lest  other  students  be 
infected  with  the  poison. 

In  many  communities  the  Separatists  built  churches  of 
their  own;  in  Windham  County  there  was  one  in  nearly 
every  town,  and  the  preaching  was  Biblical  and  often 
powerful,  but  the  revival  spirit  soon  flagged,  and  through 
lack  of  education  and  the  creation  of  sermons  out  of  dreams 
and  visions  in  contempt  of  scholarship,  the  preaching 
became  thin.  Enmities,  fault-finding,  and  quarrels  soon 
became  as  common  among  the  New  Lights  as  the  Old. 
The  leaders  of  the  Old  Lights  criticized  the  New  Lights  for 
their  irregularities  and  sensationalism,  while  the  New  Lights 


272  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

retorted  with  such  terms  as  "Dead  Dogs,"  "Lying  Shep- 
herds," "Followers  of  the  Beast  anci  Dragon,"  and  said 
that  horrible  damnation  awaited  those  who  were  leading  their 
flocks  to  hell.  Tennent  speaks  of  the  regular  ministers  as 
"Hirelings,  caterpillars,  Pharisees,  Seed  of  the  Serpent,  dead 
dogs. "  The  leaders  of  the  Congregational  churches  had  the 
power,  and  were  willing  to  use  it,  to  bring  offenders  against 
the  established  religion  under  the  severities  of  the  law.  A 
poor  man's  meat  and  grain  which  he  had  laid  up  for  his 
family  for  winter  were  seized  to  pay  the  salary  of  the  minister, 
whose  preaching  he  loathed,  and  the  farmer  was  thrust  into 
jail.  Church  quarrels  blossomed;  obstinacy,  hard  words 
and  neighborhood  strife  were  frequent;  fifty  families  in 
Canterbury  called  their  minister  an  unconverted  man,  and 
for  meeting  in  a  private  house  for  worship  were  arrested, 
fined  and  imprisoned.  Goods  were  often  sold  for  half  price 
to  pay  the  taxes,  and  in  one  town  where  the  New  Lights  got 
control  of  the  town,  the  property  of  the  aged  Old  Light 
minister  was  assessed  at  four  times  its  value.  One  widow 
lady  in  Norwich  was  taken  from  her  home  on  a  dark  night 
in  October,  1752,  at  about  nine  o'clock,  and  carried  to  jail 
by  the  collector,  and  was  kept  there  thirteen  days,  until  her 
tax  was  paid,  but  without  her  consent,  by  her  son-in-law, 
General  Jabez  Huntington. 

We  have  seen  that,  according  to  the  Say  brook  Platform 
of  1708,  every  one  was  taxed  to  support  the  Congregational 
church  in  the  town  where  he  lived,  and  in  1727,  the  General 
Assembly  passed  an  act  which  cut  the  bond  between  church 
and  town  partly  in  two,  permitting  any  society  of  the 
Church  of  England  to  form  in  a  town,  and  excused  its 
members  from  paying  rates  to  the  Congregational  church. 
The  old  church  was  to  be  known  as  the  "Prime  Ancient 
Society,"  with  a  right  to  tax  all  who  were  not  members  of 
any  church,  and  in  1729,  the  act  of  1727,  was  extended  to 
Quakers  and  Baptists.  The  new  churches  formed  after  the 
Great  Awakening  could  not  enjoy  the  privileges  granted  to 


XKe  Great  A-waKening  273 

Episcopalians,  Quakers,  and  Baptists,  for  they  claimed  to  be 
true  Congregationalists,  and  in  1744,  fourteen  members  of  the 
Saybrook  Separatist  church  were  arrested  for  "holding  a  meet- 
ing contrary  to  law  on  God's  holy  Sabbath  day";  they  were 
arraigned,  fined,  and  driven  through  deep  mud  twenty-five 
miles  on  foot  to  New  London,  where  they  were  thrust  into 
prison  for  refusing  to  pay  their  fines,  were  left  there  with- 
out fire,  food,  or  beds,  and  there  they  remained  for  many 
weeks,  dependent  on  neighboring  Baptists  for  bread.  An 
incident  connected  with  the  church  troubles  at  Ashford 
suggests  the  temper  in  some  communities;  the  pastor,  a 
Mr.  Bass,  was  charged  with  lack  of  orthodoxy,  and  at  his 
trial  he  was  asked  the  question,  "Sir,  don't  you  think  that  a 
child  brings  sin  enough  into  the  world  with  it  to  damn  it 
forever?"  The  minister  replied  that  he  did  not,  and  that 
was  enough  to  cut  him  off  from  his  parish. 

In  1750,  the  revision  of  the  laws,  which  had  been  under 
consideration  for  eight  years  by  such  able  men  as  Roger 
Wolcott,  Jonathan  Trumbull,  and  Thomas  Fitch,  governors 
afterwards,  and  John  Bulkley,  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court, 
was  completed.  The  omission  of  all  persecuting  acts  from 
this  revision  was  evidence  that  the  worst  features  of  the 
quarrel  between  the  Old  Lights  and  the  New  Lights  were 
passing.  But  the  Saybrook  Platform  continued  in  force, 
and  there  was  no  provision  to  exempt  the  Congregational 
Separatists  from  taxation  to  support  the  Established  church. 
In  1753,  more  than  twenty  Separatist  churches,  representing 
a  thousand  members,  united  in  an  appeal  to  the  Assembly, 
complaining  of  the  distraining  of  goods  for  taxes  for  the 
Established  churches,  and  of  the  danger  to  civil  peace  because 
of  these  evils,  and  when  the  Assembly  refused  redress,  the 
petition,  with  authenticated  records  and  the  seal  of  Con- 
necticut, was  sent  to  London,  to  the  King's  Most  Excellency 
in  Council.  The  English  Committee  of  Dissenters  feared 
that  it  might  anger  the  king  and  endanger  the  charter. 
Meanwhile  the  Old  Lights  were  slowly  gaining  common 


274  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

sense:  in  1755,  President  Clap  established  the  college  church 
at  Yale;  that  powerful  Old  Light  became  a  political  New 
Light  to  get  his  students  away  from  the  controversies  in 
the  town  church.  It  was  getting  a  little  late  for  Inquisition 
methods  in  Connecticut,  and  one  church  after  another,  on 
occasion  of  dispute  with  its  minister,  took  the  opportunity 
to  repudiate  the  Say  brook  Platform,  and  reassert  the 
primitive  freedom  of  the  churches.  This  number  increased 
until  the  General  Assembly  gave  up  the  contest.  About 
1780,  the  original  right  of  every  church  to  govern  itself  came 
into  play  again,  and  the  seventy  years'  captivity  to  the 
Presbyterian  method  came  to  a  close.  In  1791,  all  religious 
bodies  were  allowed  the  right  of  free  incorporation;  but 
persons  unconnected  with  any  church  were  still  required  to 
pay  rates  to  the  established  Congregational  organization, 
until  the  constitution  of  18 18,  made  all  such  contributions 
voluntary.  Near  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
custom  of  selling  the  pews  to  the  highest  bidder  began;  it 
was  in  1791,  that  the  first  annual  sale  was  held  in  Norwich. 
The  custom  also  came  in  of  buying  pews  to  raise  money 
to  build  meeting-houses. 

It  is  pure  guesswork  to  attempt  to  give  the  number 
received  into  the  churches  in  the  Great  Awakening  of  1740- 
42;  Dexter  imagines  forty  or  fifty  thousand,  other  writers 
say  ten  thousand  out  of  a  population  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand. Great  preachers  arose:  the  powerful  theologians, 
such  as  the  elder  and  younger  Edwards,  Emmons,  Hopkins, 
Bellamy,  West,  and  Dwight;  New  England  theology  had 
its  birth;  Baptist  churches  felt  a  powerful  impetus;  Episco- 
palians added  many  to  their  numbers;  the  Established 
churches  were  revitalized;  a  path  blazed  for  a  downfall 
of  the  Saybrook  system  and  the  separation  of  church  and 
state  in  1 8 18.  In  some  ways  the  Great  Awakening  was, 
like  the  Crusades,  a  time  of  confusion,  stirring  sluggish  minds 
and  bringing  in  a  new  era.  The  means  were  drastic  and 
many  of  the  effects  bitter  and  divisive,  but  on  the  whole  it 


XKe  Great  A.'waKenin^  275 

was  a  genuine  awakening,  which  led  to  larger  toleration,  a 
more  genial  and  Scriptural  theology,  an  interest  in  education, 
missions,  and  philanthropy,  the  passing  of  the  parish  despot- 
ism, and  an  uplift  which  promoted  the  Revolution.  It  is  a 
significant  fact  that  Samuel  J.  Mills,  who  is  called  the  Father 
of  Foreign  Missions  in  America,  was  born  in  Torrington  in 
1783,  and  before  the  century  closed  Connecticut  was  taking 
the  lead  of  all  other  states  in  home  missions. 

This  is  as  good  a  place  as  any  other  to  speak  of  the  influ- 
ence of  Connecticut  in  theology  in  America.  It  is  scarcely 
too  much  to  say  that  this  commonwealth  has  produced  more 
theologians  than  all  the  rest  of  the  country.  The  two  men 
who  have  been  most  influential  are  Edwards  and  Bushnell; 
the  former  was  born  in  East  Windsor,  October  3,  1703,  and 
the  latter  in  Litchfield,  April  14,  1802.  Joseph  Bellamy  was 
born  in  New  Cheshire  in  17 19,  was  pastor  at  Bethlehem  from 
1738,  to  1790,  and  was  teacher  of  sixty  students  in  days 
before  there  were  theological  seminaries.  Bellamy  was  op- 
posed to  the  Half-way  Covenant,  and  he  was  the  most  power- 
ful preacher  in  the  state.  More  powerful  as  a  thinker  was 
Samuel  Hopkins,  who  was  born  in  Waterbury,  developed 
still  further  the  Calvinism  of  Edwards,  and  was  the  first 
minister  in  New  England  to  oppose  slavery  openly.  Na- 
thanael  Emmons  was  born  in  East  Haddam  in  1745;  he  was 
a  pupil  of  John  Smalley  of  New  Britain,  and  trained  a  hun- 
dred young  ministers,  doing  more  than  any  one  else  to 
create  the  later  Congregationalism.  Steven  West  was  born 
in  Tolland  in  1735,  and  was  a  profound  scholar  and  thinker. 
John  Smalley  was  born  in  Columbia,  and  in  his  pastorate  of 
over  fifty  years  in  New  Britain  he  stood  opposed  to  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Separatists  and  the  worldliness  of  the 
Half-way  Covenant.  He  trained  many  strong  ministers 
for  their  pulpits,  and  had  a  marked  influence  on  Oliver  Ells- 
worth and  Jeremiah  Mason.  Timothy  Dwight,  through 
his  great  sermons  at  New  Haven,  was  the  powerful  leader 
out  of   the   religious   decline   which   threatened    to    over- 


276  i\  History  of  Connecticut 

whelm  the  Connecticut  churches.  Dwight's  work  belongs 
to  a  later  period,  but  he  was  one  of  the  fruits  of  the  Great 
Awakening,  as  were  all  the  men  just  mentioned,  except 
Edwards,  the  father  of  it.  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  younger, 
was  pastor  in  New  Haven  for  twenty-five  years,  and  had  a 
decided  influence  in  forming  the  New  England  theology. 
It  is  not  easy  to  characterize  the  theology  of  these  sons  of 
the  Great  Awakening;  they  were  all  decided  Calvinists, 
modified  according  to  their  individual  way  of  thinking,  but 
they  were  men  of  power,  and  every  one  contributed  to  the 
development  of  the  people  in  their  ideas  of  personal  liberty. 
The  impression  that  the  sermons  were  uniformly  long  and 
dry  is  an  exaggeration,  and  there  were  men  of  originality 
and  humor  in  the  ministry,  like  Josiah  Dwight  of  Woodstock, 
who  said,  "If  unconverted  men  ever  got  to  heaven,  they 
would  feel  as  uneasy  as  a  shad  up  the  crotch  of  a  white  oak. " 
There  was  some  disagreement  between  this  man  and  neigh- 
boring ministers,  and  when  they  met  him  in  the  interests  of 
harmony,  he  prayed  that  they  "might  so  hitch  their  horses 
together  on  earth  that  they  should  never  kick  in  the  stables 
of  everlasting  salvation."  Keen  wit,  and  sharp  repartee 
characterized  the  conversation  of  many. 

The  one-man  rule  in  the  local  church  is  often  referred  to 
critically,  and  there  was  an  occasional  domineering  of  a 
local  minister,  but  in  the  main  it  did  little  harm,  for  the 
laymen  were  independent  in  judgment  and  outspoken  in 
speech,  and  the  ministers  feared  their  people  quite  as  much  as 
the  people  did  the  ministers.  Neither  side  dared  to  go  too 
far  for  the  minister  was  supposed  to  be  settled  for  life  and 
to  break  off  his  pastorate  midway  would  be  regarded  as  little 
short  of  a  disgrace,  while  the  coming  of  a  new  minister  would 
involve  the  church  in  a  heavy  expense  to  buy  a  farm  and 
build  a  house  for  settlement.  As  a  rule  ministers  were  close 
friends  and  faithful  counselors  of  their  people  in  all  things; 
often  arbiters  in  disputed  rights;  moral  guardians  and 
teachers  of  all.      The  people  were  interested  to  hear  their 


TKe  Great  AwaKenin^  277 

earnest  and  fervid  ministers  send  bulletins  heavenward  on  the 
life  of  the  parish,  sometimes  making  personal  mention  of  the 
actors,  recounting  the  questions  at  issue  in  the  state,  anathe- 
matizing the  enemy,  and  acknowledging  the  sovereignty 
of  God  in  the  fall  of  a  sparrow  and  the  downfall  of  Charles  I. 
Many  of  the  ministers  were  strong,  logical  thinkers.  It  was 
a  stiff  proposition  to  claim,  as  Hopkins  would  do,  that  a 
man  should  be  willing  to  be  damned  for  the  glory  of  God, 
but  whoever  did  not  believe  it  must  stand  ready  to  give  the 
reason  why.  Steven  West,  preaching  regularly  to  six  judges 
of  the  courts,  training  in  his  study  President  Kirkland  of 
Harvard  and  Samuel  Spring,  one  of  the  founders  of  Andover 
Seminary  and  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
was  not  the  only  minister  with  an  influence  deep  and  wide. 
With  all  its  evils,  its  bitterness  and  strife,  its  persecutions,  and 
animosities,  the  Great  Awakening  must  be  considered  as  a 
most  valuable  and  thorough  experience  in  undermining  the 
Saybrook  Platform,  demolishing  the  Half-way  Covenant, 
stimulating  the  people  to  independent  judgment,  encourag- 
ing free  speech,  and  in  helping  to  bring  the  interests  of  church 
and  state  forward  a  little  toward  a  condition  in  which  Hberty 
and  common  sense  could  have  freer  play.  The  results  of 
agitatioji  and  evolution  found  expression  in  the  "Laws  and 
Acts  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,"  appearing  in  1784,  in 
which  there  was  no  reference  to  the  Saybrook  Platform;  all 
ecclesiastical  laws  were  grouped  under  three  heads  entitled 
Rights  of  Conscience,  Regulation  of  Societies,  and  Observance 
of  the  Sabbath.  Whoever  absented  himself  from  public 
worship  on  the  Lord's  day  for  any  trivial  reason  should  pay  a 
fine  of  three  shillings  or  fifty  cents.  All  religious  bodies 
recognized  by  law  were  permitted  to  manage  their  temporal 
affairs  as  freely  as  the  Establishment.  While  legislation 
favored  the  Establishment,  toleration  was  extended  more 
freely.  Strangers  and  minors  could  choose  their  church 
home,  but  all  must  choose.  Thus  the  Saybrook  Platform 
disappeared  from  the  statute  book;  oppression  ceased;  the 


278  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

smaller  sects  that  appeared  after  1770,  were  not  persecuted. 
The  Sandemanians  came  in  about  1766;  the  Shakers  were 
permitted  to  form  a  settlement  at  Enfield  in  1780;  the 
Universalists  began  making  converts  among  the  Separatist 
churches  of  Norwich  as  early  as  1772;  in  1784,  there  was 
organized  at  New  London  the  first  Seventh-day  Baptist 
Church  in  Connecticut.  We  have  to  wait  until  after  18 18, 
before  we  find  the  riper  fruits  of  the  Great  Awakening,  but 
with  all  drawbacks  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  stimulating  and 
valuable  experience. 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  REVOLUTION 

OUR  study  of  the  settlement  and  early  history  of  Con- 
necticut makes  it  easy  to  imagine  the  part  it  took  in 
the  struggle  with  England  for  freedom.  The  preparation, 
in  the  quality  and  training  of  the  people,  as  well  as  in 
the  institutions  established,  was  singularly  valuable.  Many 
of  the  population  of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  whites 
had  been  trained  to  caution,  energy,  self-restraint,  initiative, 
and  independent  judgment  by  the  French  and  Indian  wars; 
by  parrying  with  English  kings,  by  a  long  succession  of  able 
and  patriotic  governors,  by  constant  alertness  to  hold  their 
own  with  her  neighbors,  and  by  a  charter  which  was  an  ideal 
for  all  the  other  colonies.  Then  too,  an  efficient  local  self- 
government  and  commercial  prosperity  had  given  strength 
and  confidence  to  the  naturally  self-reliant  citizens,  equipping 
them  for  an  intelligent  and  powerful  stand  for  what  they 
believed  was  right. 

When  the  news  of  the  proposed  Stamp  Act  arrived  in 
1763,  the  General  Assembly  appointed,  in  a  secret  and  careful 
manner,  three  of  its  ablest  disputants  to  argue  in  its  favor, 
and  three  equally  able  to  argue  against  it,  that  it  might  hold 
well-balanced  convictions.  One  of  the  earliest  resolves  of 
that  session  was  the  appointment  of  a  strong  committee  to 
assist  Governor  Fitch  to  set  in  order  the  objections  to  the  Act. 
Jared  Ingersoll,  one  of  this  committee,  was  commissioned  to 
confer  with  Richard  Jackson,  agent  of  the  colony  in  England, 

279 


28o  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

on  the  subject;  it  is  reported  that  George  Grenville  praised 
the  tone  in  which  the  Connecticut  "Reasons"  were  written 
and  admitted  that  the  arguments  were  the  best  that  he  had 
seen,  though  fallacious.  The  measure  passed  the  House 
of  Commons  March  22,  1765,  and  soon  afterwards  Governor 
Fitch  called  his  council  together  to  take  an  oath  to  cause 
"all  and  every  one  of  the  clauses  [of  the  Act]  to  be  punctually 
and  bona  fide  observed,"  according  to  the  requirements  of 
the  Stamp  Act.  There  was  a  heated  debate,  and  when  the 
time-limit  for  the  oath  came,  and  it  was  proposed  to  admin- 
ister it,  Jonathan  Trumbull,  Eliphalet  Dyer,  Hezekiah 
Huntington,  Elisha  Sheldon,  Matthew  Griswold,  Shubal 
Conant,  and  Jabez  Huntington  indignantly  withdrew,  refus- 
ing to  witness  a  ceremony,  which,  as  Dyer  insisted,  was 
"contrary  to  the  oath  the  governor  and  council  had  before 
taken  to  maintain  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people." 
The  oath  was  administered  in  the  presence  of  a  minority  of 
four  of  the  council.  The  political  future  of  Governor  Fitch 
was  sealed,  and  after  three  years  of  Governor  William 
Pitkin,  Jonathan  Trumbull,  the  famous  War  Governor 
held  the  office  until  1784.  The  temper  of  Governor  Trum- 
bull is  seen  from  the  following  sentences  from  a  broadside 
he  issued  as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Assembly,  June  18,  1776, 
to  be  published  in  the  churches,  appealing  to  the  "virtue  and 
public  spirit  of  the  good  people  of  this  colony": 

Affairs  are  hastening  fast  to  a  crisis,  and  the  approaching 
campaign  will  in  all  probability  determine  forever  the  fate  of 
America.  Be  exhorted  to  rise  therefore  to  superior  exertions  on 
this  great  occasion ;  and  let  all  that  are  able  and  necessary  shew 
themselves  ready  in  behalf  of  their  injured  and  oppressed 
country,  and  come  forth  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the 
mighty,  and  convince  the  unrelenting  tyrant  of  Great  Britain 
that  they  are  resolved  to  be  free. 

Jonathan  Trumbull  was  the  head  of  a  popular  movement, 
and  a  trusted  friend  of  Washington  who,  in  dark  days  of  the 


Jonathan  Trumbull  (1710-85) 

From  a  Painting  by  George  F.  Wright  in  Memorial  Hall,  Connecticut  State  Library 


TKe  Revolvition  281 

war,  when  the  army  was  in  serious  need  of  supplies,  was  wont 
to  say,  "We'll  see  what  Brother  Jonathan  can  do  for  us." 
The  ministers  were  preaching  against  the  Act;  volunteer 
organizations,  calling  themselves  "Sons  of  Liberty,"  were 
patrolling  the  country,  when  Ingersoll  returned  with  a  com- 
mission as  stamp-master.  On  reaching  New  Haven  he 
found  the  people  in  a  ferment.  On  September  17,1 765,  he  was 
requested  by  vote  of  the  town  meeting  to  resign  his  office  at 
once.  Ingersoll  told  the  people  that  he  would  apply  to  the 
General  Assembly  for  confirmation  in  his  office,  and  set  out 
for  Hartford.  Before  reaching  Wethersfield,  he  was  met  by 
an  escort  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  who  attended  him  to  the  old 
Broad  Street  Green,  where  he  was  surrounded  by  a  con- 
tingent of  five  hundred  mounted  men,  under  the  command  of 
Major  John  Durkee  of  Norwich,  in  the  absence  of  Colonel 
Israel  Putnam,  disabled  by  an  accident.  Ingersoll  was  forced 
to  sign  a  paper  resigning  his  office,  to  give  three  cheers 
for  Liberty  and  Property,  and  he  was  then  escorted  to  the 
Assembly  Hall  in  Hartford,  where  he  read  his  resignation  in 
public.  Ingersoll  rode  a  white  horse,  and  when  asked  how 
he  felt  riding  from  Wethersfield  to  Hartford,  he  said  he 
never  before  understood  the  meaning  of  the  verse  in  the 
Revelation,  which  speaks  of  "death  on  a  pale  horse,  with  all 
hell  following." 

In  1774,  Roger  Sherman  of  New  Haven,  Silas  Deane  of 
Wethersfield,  and  Eliphalet  Dyer  of  Windham  were  appointed 
delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress,  and  the  towns,  after 
the  Connecticut  fashion  of  little  commonwealths,  took  action : 
condemned  the  ministry;  appointed  committees  of  safety; 
appropriated  money  to  buy  arms  and  powder,  and  after 
the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed  in  1766,  and  the  Boston  Port 
Bill  was  enacted,  sent  large  supplies  to  the  needy  people  there. 
The  gift  of  Norwich  was  much  applauded,  as  it  consisted  of 
money,  grain,  and  a  flock  of  three  hundred  and  ninety  sheep. 
The  records  of  the  votes  of  the  Assembly  show  a  keen  interest 
in    the   appointment    of    officers    for    the    train-bands    of 


282  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

committees  of  correspondence  with  other  colonies,  and  direc- 
tions regarding  attendance  at  the  drills  of  military  companies. 
There  was  no  regular  uniform  for  the  militia  then,  nor  for 
years,  rifle  frocks  and  trousers  being  much  worn.  Among 
the  words  of  command  in  training,  before  and  after  the 
command  to  "Poise  arms,"  were  "Put  your  right  hand 
to  the  firelock" — "Put  your  left  hand  to  the  firelock." 
An  odd  kind  of  aspirate  was  sometimes  used  in  com- 
mand, thus:  "Shoulder!  hoo!"  No  other  colony  had  a 
more  complete  military  organization,  and  the  marshaling 
of  militia  was  made  as  thorough  as  possible.  It  was  voted 
that  the  governor  be  captain-general,  the  deputy  governor 
lieutenant-general,  that  all  military  companies  should  be 
formed  into  regiments,  and  in  every  regiment  there  should 
be  colonel,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  major,  appointed  by 
the  General  Assembly.  All  men  from  sixteen  to  sixty,  ex- 
cept those  exempted  by  law,  were  to  bear  arms,  and  muster 
in  thirteen  regiments.  To  every  regiment  there  was  to 
be  one  troop  of  horse,  and  an  inspection  of  the  army  on  the 
first  Monday  in  May,  besides  several  training  days.  In  the 
autumn  of  1776,  there  were  six  brigades,  with  their  generals, 
and  two  major-generals,  who  had  power  to  call  forth  the 
militia ;  the  number  subject  to  military  duty  was  twenty-six 
thousand. 

The  charter  of  Charles  II.  gave  such  union  and  harmony; 
the  people  in  the  towns  were  so  thoroughly  trained  in  govern- 
ing themselves;  the  governor  was  in  such  complete  sym- 
pathy with  the  plans  of  the  insurgents  in  the  other  colonies, 
that  there  was  no  delay  in  Connecticut,  but  prompt,  con- 
siderate and  determined  action.  Moreover,  this  colony  was 
well  off;  its  forests  had  poured  forth  their  wealth;  its  valleys 
had  produced  liberally;  its  commerce  was  extensive;  its 
towns  were  growing  richer.  It  was  called  the  "provision 
colony,"  and  its  manufactures  were  multiplying.  It  sent 
two  hundred  sail  to  the  West  Indies,  and  there  were  three 
men  in  Hartford  who  were  worth  sixteen  thousand  pounds 


THe  Revolution  283 

apiece.  The  people  were  vehement  republicans ;  the  Boston 
Port  Bill  was  burnt  with  great  contempt  by  the  public 
hangman.  Six  months  before  the  Lexington  fight,  General 
Gage  seized  a  powder-house  near  Beacon  Hill;  the  news 
spread  through  the  colony  calling  the  people  to  arms  in 
defense  of  Boston,  and  before  it  could  be  countermanded, 
thousands  were  on  the  road.  On  September  15,  1774,  a 
meeting,  which  has  been  called  the  first  "Hartford  Conven- 
tion" was  held,  in  which  strong  resolutions  were  passed  on 
non-consumption  and  monopoly.  Sons  of  Liberty  had  their 
contingents  in  every  town,  and  Liberty  Poles  were  erected; 
one  in  Haddam  was  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high 
bearing  a  union  flag  with  the  emblem  of  Liberty  fighting 
the  cause  of  America  against  tyranny.  The  General  Assem- 
bly, which  met  in  New  Haven  in  1774,  was  patriotic  and 
determined ;  six  months  later  it  voted  to  raise  six  regiments 
for  special  defense,  authorized  the  purchase  of  three  thou- 
sand stands  of  arms,  issued  bills  of  credit  to  the  amount 
of  fifty  thousand  pounds,  and  laid  a  tax  of  seven  pence. 
The  anniversary  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  was  celebrated 
in  some  towns  with  ringing  of  bells,  the  closing  of  shops, 
and  decorations  of  black.  After  the  affair  at  Lexington, 
the  Second  Company  of  the  Governor's  Foot  Guard  was 
the  first  to  reach  Cambridge;  soldiers  hastened  from  all 
parts  of  the  colony,  until  some  four  thousand  had  gathered ; 
at  a  special  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  summoned 
by  Governor  Trumbull,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
wait  on  General  Gage  with  a  letter  from  the  governor, 
and  six  regiments  were  ordered  to  mobilize.  The  first  mili- 
tary success  was  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga.  Learn- 
ing of  the  possibility  of  success  in  an  attack  upon  that 
important  fort  on  the  highway  to  Canada,  April  28,  1775,  a 
self -constituted  "committee"  composed  of  Silas  Deane, 
Samuel  Wyllys,  S.  H.  Parsons,  Christopher  Leffingwell, 
Thomas  Mumford,  and  Adam  Babcock,  signed  notes  on 
the  treasury    for    money    to    send    Colonel    Ethan    Allen 


284  A  History  of  Connecticut 

with  his  Green  Mountain  Boys  to  the  first  conquest  of  the 
Revolution. 

The  leading  military  man  in  the  colony  was  Israel  Putnam 
of  Pomfret,  who  had  achieved  a  reputation  in  previous  wars 
for  nerve  and  courage.  The  first  message  from  the  governor 
to  Putnam  found  him  ploughing,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  his  son,  an  eye-witness,  though  Bancroft  says  he  was  build- 
ing a  stone  wall.  He  rode  his  horse  to  Boston,  reaching  the 
town  in  time  for  the  council  of  war,  April  19,  1775.  He  was 
followed  by  volunteers  from  Connecticut,  who  had  seen 
service  in  French  and  Indian  wars.  Putnam  was  commis- 
sioned major-general  and  two  other  officers  from  the  colony 
were  made  brigadier-generals.  The  General  Assembly 
provided  for  the  emission  of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
in  bills  of  credit,  to  pay  for  the  equipment  of  eight 
regiments  of  militia.  An  evidence  of  the  forethought  of 
Trumbull  and  the  other  leaders  of  Connecticut  was,  that 
when  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought,  and  the  ammuni- 
tion in  the  hands  of  the  Americans  consisted  of  only  sixty- 
three  half-barrels  of  powder,  thirty-six  was  a  present  from 
the  colony  of  Connecticut.  The  Council  of  Safety,  which 
voted  this  supply,  had  been  appointed  in  May,  1775,  to 
"assist  His  Honor  the  Governor  when  the  Assembly  is  not 
sitting. "  This  Council  was  maintained  throughout  the  war, 
and  in  the  "War-office"  at  Lebanon  (now  restored),  eleven 
hundred  meetings  of  this  Council  were  held  during  the 
Revolution.  No  other  colony  deserves  more  credit  than 
Connecticut  for  efficiency  in  meeting  situations  which  tested 
wisdom  and  pocket-book  through  the  struggle.  In  that 
terrible  winter  at  Valley  Forge,  when  death  by  starvation  and 
freezing  faced  the  army,  the  urgent  letters  of  Washington 
to  Trumbull,  stating  that  the  army  must  disband,  if  relief 
did  not  arrive  speedily,  led  the  Council  of  Safety  to  place  in 
the  hands  of  Colonel  Henry  Champion  and  Peter  Colt  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  live  beef,  to 
send  to  the  army.     Those  droves,  with  the  exception  of  one 


o 


X      V 


■^  Q 


•-  .t:  o 
f^   Si 


CO     -a 


M     a 


a  - 


Tlrive  Revolvition  285 

hundred  and  fifty  head  of  cattle,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  were  safely  delivered  in  midwinter  to  the  army, 
having  been  driven  some  three  hundred  miles  under  the 
personal  direction  of  Colonel  Champion  and  his  son  Epaph- 
roditus.  The  first  installment  of  cattle  was  devoured  by 
the  soldiers  in  five  days.  Thus  Jonathan  Trumbull,  sea- 
soned by  more  than  forty  years  of  public  life,  vindicated 
his  right  to  the  title,  "  The  presiding  genius  of  Connecticut 
during  the  American  conflict." 

In  common  with  the  soldiers  of  the  other  colonies,  accus- 
tomed to  Indian  warfare,  and  unused  to  military  discipline, 
the  campaigns  were  somewhat  irregular  until  Baron  Steuben, 
whose  commission  was  insisted  on  by  Silas  Deane,  the  Con- 
necticut agent  in  Paris,  introduced  the  tactics  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  taught  the  use  of  bayonets,  improved  the  military 
staff,  and  practically  organized  the  army.  The  first  cavalry 
regiment  in  the  war  was  formed  in  Litchfield  County  by 
Colonel  Elisha  Sheldon  of  Salisbury.  When  Putnam  wrote 
Governor  Trumbull  that  six  thousand  men  were  expected 
from  Connecticut,  that  number  was  speedily  mobilized. 
General  Putnam's  services  at  Boston  were  important,  super- 
intending fortifications,  keeping  the  men  busy  in  many  ways, 
because,  as  his  son  says,  "experience  had  taught  him  that 
raw  and  undisciplined  troops  must  be  employed  in  some  way 
or  other,  or  they  would  soon  become  vicious  and  unmanage- 
able."  At  the  Council  of  Safety  and  Council  of  War, 
Putnam,  Prescott,  and  Palmer  urged  the  fortifying  of  Bunker 
Hill,  though  Ward  and  Warren  opposed,  but  the  rail  and 
stone  barricade,  hastily  put  up,  played  a  valuable  part  in  the 
battle  and  the  retreat.  The  question,  who  commanded  in 
the  battle,  has  been  much  discussed,  and  perhaps  the  best 
answer  is  that  in  that  early  stage  of  the  struggle  every  man 
did  the  best  he  could.  Prescott  commanded  at  the  redoubt, 
and  Putnam,  the  ranking  officer  on  the  field,  withdrew  his 
men  with  their  intrenching  tools  from  Prescott,  and  planned 
to  throw  up  earthworks  on  the  higher  eminence,  now  known 


286  A  History  of  Conriectic\it 

as  Bunker  Hill,  and  toward  the  end  of  the  retreat  he  assumed 
a  general  command,  and  directed  the  fortifying  of  Prospect 
Hill.  Fearless  and  vigorous,  Putnam  was  eager  to  be  where 
he  was  most  needed;  now  riding  at  breakneck  speed  to 
Cambridge  for  reinforcements ;  now  giving  his  famous  order, 
"Wait  till  you  see  the  whites  of  their  eyes  before  you  fire"; 
at  last  vainly  attempting  to  rally  the  forces  for  a  final  stand. 
The  only  soldiers  at  Bunker  Hill,  except  those  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  Hampshire,  were  from  Connecticut,  and 
at  the  siege  of  Boston,  Connecticut  had  twenty-three  htindred 
of  the  sixteen  thousand  soldiers. 

A  record  in  the  handwriting  of  Governor  Trumbull  states 
that  it  was  voted  by  the  Council  on  June  7,  1775,  to  send 
fifty  barrels  of  one  hundred  and  eight  pounds  each,  "on 
application  from  the  General  Committee  of  Safety  and  Sup- 
plies for  Massachusetts,  and  on  desire  of  Brigadier  General 
Putnam  ...  on  the  present  emergency  for  use  of  the 
camp  at  Cambridge  and  Roxbury. "  Putnam  was  no  poli- 
tician, and  there  was  some  opposition  to  commissioning  him 
by  the  Continental  Congress  in  preference  to  Wooster,  but 
no  one  could  question  his  ability  as  a  fighter.  Silas  Deane, 
one  of  the  Connecticut  members  in  Congress ;  liked  Putnam's 
bluff,  hearty  ways;  writing  to  his  wife,  July  20,  Deane  said: 

He  is  the  toast  of  the  army;  I  am  glad  the  good  and  virtuous  of 
Connecticut  are  willing  to  stand  by  the  resolutions  of  Con- 
gress in  the  appointment  of  General  Putnam.  He  does  not 
wear  a  large  wig,  nor  screw  his  countenance  into  a  form  that 
belies  the  sentiments  of  his  generous  soul ;  he  is  no  adept  either 
at  politics  or  religious  canting  and  cozening :  he  is  no  shake-hand 
body :  he  therefore  is  totally  unfit  for  everything  but  fighting. 

In  the  campaign  of  1776,  Connecticut  was  first  to  rally 
in  New  York.  The  force  was  met  on  the  borders  of  the 
colony  by  the  timid  and  vacillating  Committee  of  Safety, 
but  the  orders  of  Washington  had  the  right  of  way,  and 
Connecticut  troops  were  the  first  to  plant  the  standard  of 


Israel  Putnam's  Plow 


The  Putnam  Wolf  Den,  Pomfret,  Conn. 


TKe  Revolution  287 

independence  in  New  York,  under  command  of  Putnam. 
That  position  they  maintained  until  Washington  arrived  in 
April.  At  the  beginning  of  the  preparations  on  Long  Island, 
Washington  had  twenty-five  thousand  men,  the  largest 
army  at  any  one  time  during  the  Revolution,  and  of  this 
Connecticut  furnished  one-third.  All  but  two  of  the  Con- 
necticut regiments  were  in  New  York  in  that  campaign. 
Connecticut  was  in  a  critical  situation  during  much  of  the 
war,  between  two  large  British  armies  at  Newport  and 
New  York,  with  a  strong  fleet  of  the  enemy  on  the  Sound. 
It  was  a  time  of  hardship;  the  men  were  generally  in  the 
army;  women,  old  men,  and  boys  tilled  the  fields  as  best  they 
could. 

In  November,  1775,  a  committee  of  Congress,  composed 
of  Franklin,  Jay,  Morris,  Dickinson,  and  Harrison,  selected 
Silas  Deane  of  Wethersfield  to  go  to  Paris  and  secure 
military  supplies  of  all  kinds,  of  which  the  army  was  in 
great  need,  as  there  were  few  cannon,  little  powder  and  shot, 
and  the  guns  made  by  the  village  blacksmiths  were  scanty. 
When  Deane  reached  France,  July  6,  1776,  he  found  every- 
thing arranged  by  Vergennes,  the  French  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  and  though  England  and  France  were  at  peace,  the 
ingenious  and  devoted  Beaumarchais  and  the  efficient  and 
tireless  Deane  solved  the  problem  of  transferring  the  indis- 
pensable clothing,  cannon,  mortars,  muskets,  powder,  shot, 
and  tents  to  America;  only  half  of  one  cargo  of  the  eight 
shiploads  embarked  failed  of  reaching  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 
When  Burgoyne  surrendered  at  Saratoga,  in  the  decisive 
victory  of  1777,  a  victory  which  led  the  doubtful  French  to 
make  treaties  of  friendship  and  commerce  with  the  revolting 
colonies  on  the  following  February,  the  army,  at  whose 
feet  the  British  regulars  laid  down  their  arms,  was  clothed, 
armed,  and  furnished  with  artillery  sent  over  by  Silas  Deane. 

When  Stonington  was  attacked  by  the  British,  those  left 
at  home  made  a  resolute  defense;  when  Tryon  marched  on 
New  Haven,  the  citizens,  even  to  Daggett,  the  minister  and 


288  j\  History  of  Connecticut 

college  president,  rallied  with  their  muskets.  The  zeal  and 
patriotism  of  the  people  found  efficient  expression  in  the 
action  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  tireless  watchfulness  of 
the  Council  of  Safety  and  the  matchless  Governor  Trumbull. 
The  correspondence  between  Washington  and  Trumbull  was 
of  a  mutually  trustful  nature  throughout  the  struggle,  and  so 
sagacious  was  the  governor  that  we  find  Washington  writing 
to  Trumbull: 

I  have  full  confidence  in  your  most  ready  assistance  on  every 
occasion,  and  that  such  measures  as  appear  to  you  most  likely 
to  advance  the  public  good,  in  this  and  every  instance  will  be 
most  cheerfully  adopted.  ...  I  have  nothing  to  suggest 
for  the  consideration  of  your  Assembly ;  I  am  confident  that  they 
will  not  be  wanting  in  their  exertions  for  supporting  the  just  and 
constitutional  rights  of  the  colonies. 

The  women  vied  with  the  men  in  patriotic  devotion.  When 
Shubael  Dimmock  of  Mansfield  reached  home  in  winter  and 
in  rags,  for  a  short  furlough,  and  there  was  no  cloth  in  the 
house,  there  was  a  web  of  warp  drawn  into  the  loom,  and  an 
old  black  sheep  that  was  nibbling  around  the  dooryard  was 
caught,  sheared,  bundled  down  cellar  in  a  blanket,  and 
in  forty-eight  hours  Dimmock  was  on  his  way  to  the  army 
with  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  since  mother,  wife,  sisters,  and 
neighbors  worked  with  swift  hands.  In  the  fearful  winter  of 
1777-78,  Governor  Trumbull  and  J.  L.  Hazard  of  Rhode 
Island  stumped  the  counties  of  Washington  and  New  London 
urging  the  women  to  "commence  making  yarn  and  knitting 
stockings  for  the  suffering  army,"  and  thousands  of  cart- 
ridges were  made  by  the  Plainfield  women.  There  was  a 
widow  in  Thompson  who  brewed  a  barrel  of  beer  every  day 
of  one  summer  to  stand  by  her  door  to  refresh  wayworn 
soldiers.  Hardship  was  experienced  among  the  people  by 
lack  of  salt  and  molasses.  When  a  vessel  laden  with  mo- 
lasses and  belonging  to  a  Tory  reached  Stonington  in  1776, 
it  was  seized  by  some  men  from  Norwich,  and  with  the 


Nathan  Hale,  a  Bronze  Statue  in  the  Connecticut  State  Capitol 

From  a  Photo  by  Randall  &  Blackmore 


XKe  K.evol\jtion  289 

approval  of  the  legislature,  it  was  doled  out  for  the  neediest 
uses,  including  forty  hogsheads  to  be  distilled  for  the  use 
of  the  soldiers. 

Among  the  Connecticut  martyrs  to  the  cause  was 
Thomas  Knowlton,  who  commanded  two  hundred  men  at  the 
famous  rail  breastwork  at  Bunker  Hill,  who  after  the  Long 
Island  defeat  led  a  small  body  of  picked  men,  known  as 
Knowlton's  Rangers;  in  his  company  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men  were  such  officers  as  Nathan  Hale  of  Coventry, 
Stephen  Brown  of  Woodstock,  Thomas  Grovesner  of  Pom- 
fret,  and  Thomas  U.  Fosdick  of  New  London.  In  the 
engagement  of  September  16,  1776,  the  Rangers  did  much 
to  turn  the  tide  of  battle,  but  with  the  sad  result  of  the  death 
of  Colonel  Knowlton,  who  was  mentioned  in  the  general 
orders  of  the  following  day  as  "the  gallant  and  brave  Col. 
Knowlton,  who  would  have  been  an  honor  to  any  country. " 
As  he  was  carried  from  the  field,  he  said,  "  I  do  not  value  my 
life,  if  we  do  but  get  the  day."  Gasping  in  the  agony  of 
death,  his  only  anxiety  was  to  drive  the  enemy,  and  he  said 
to  his  son,  "You  can  do  me  no  good,  go,  fight  for  your 
country."  While  Knowlton  was  leading  the  Rangers,  one 
of  the  noblest  of  the  band,  Nathan  Hale,"  was  engaged  in  a 
service  equally  dangerous.  It  was  impossible  for  Washing- 
ton to  secure  information  of  vital  importance  to  him  after  the 
battle  of  Long  Island,  without  sending  a  spy  within  the 
enemies'  lines.  As  soon  as  Hale,  a  young  graduate  of  Yale 
of  the  class  of  1773,  heard  of  the  service  needed,  he  volun- 
teered to  fulfill  the  perilous  task.  Disguised  as  a  school- 
master, he  crossed  the  lines,  gained  the  knowledge,  and  was 
arrested  while  awaiting  the  boat  by  which  he  was  to  return. 
His  words  as  he  paid  the  penalty  of  his  devotion,  September 
22,  1776,  can  never  weaken:  "I  only  regret  that  I  have  but 
one  life  to  give  for  my  country." 

A  foil  to  such  men  as  these  is  the  career  of  Benedict 
Arnold,  brilliant,  gallant,  resourceful,  and  in  the  end  igno- 
minious.    Born  in  Norwich  in  174 1,  he  led  the  brave,  but  ill- 


290  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

fated  expedition  to  Quebec,  fought  an  obstinate  naval  battle 
off  Plattsburg,  chased  Tryon  from  Danbury,  fought  bravely 
at  Saratoga,  married  a  loyalist,  and  while  in  command  in 
Philadelphia  had  trouble  with  the  city  government,  which 
brought  charges  against  him,  some  of  which  were  false  and 
the  rest  frivolous ;  was  acquitted ;  was  eulogized  by  Washing- 
ton, who  offered  him  the  highest  position  in  the  army  next 
to  himself;  stooped  to  the  basest  treason,  was  used  by  the 
British  to  lead  the  meanest  of  all  expeditions,  and  at  the 
end  shortly  before  his  death,  on  June  14,  1801,  is  said  to 
have  put  on  his  old  uniform,  asking  God  to  forgive  him  for 
wearing  another.  A  few  weeks  before  the  fall  of  Cornwallis, 
on  September  6,  1781,  Benedict  Arnold  led  the  most  atro- 
cious attack  of  the  war,  assaulting  New  London  and  Groton, 
towns  but  thirteen  miles  from  his  birthplace.  Two  small 
forts,  Trumbull  and  Griswold,  had  been  hastily  built,  and 
both  were  under  the  command  of  Colonel  William  Ledyard. 
The  attack  was  a  surprise,  Fort  Trumbull  was  taken  with  a 
rush  and  Ledyard  gathered  his  men  in  Fort  Griswold.  After 
Arnold  had  burned  the  town  and  the  shipping,  he  stormed 
Fort  Griswold,  which  was  bravely  defended.  When  at  last 
Ledyard  surrendered,  the  sword  he  gave  up  was  plunged  into 
his  own  breast,  and  many  of  his  men  butchered  in  cold  blood. 
Colonel  William  Ledyard  will  always  be  remembered  as  an 
intrepid  soldier,  who  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  farmers 
bravely  resisted  eight  hundred  veterans  of  the  British  army, 
until  the  invaders  poured  in  from  two  opposite  sides  of  the 
fort.  In  1777,  Tryon,  the  royalist  governor  of  New  York, 
with  a  force  of  two  thousand  men  and  twenty-five  vessels, 
landed  at  Saugatuck,  marched  to  Danbury,  April  26,  de- 
stroyed the  stores  gathered  there  and  a  large  part  of  the 
town,  but  carefully  spared  Tory  property.  There  were  some 
Continental  soldiers  in  the  neighborhood,  and  the  two 
generals,  Wooster  and  Arnold.  The  latter  rallied  all  the 
regulars  and  militia  available,  and  headed  off  Tryon  on  his 
retreat,  at  Ridgefield.   Wooster  was  mortally  wounded  in  the 


The  Groton  Monument  Commemorating  the  Battle  of  September  6,  1781 

From  a  Photograph 


XKe  Revolxition  291 

battle,  and  Arnold  pursued  the  British  to  their  ships.  In 
retaliation,  Colonel  Meigs  crossed  the  Sound  from  New  Haven 
in  whaleboats  to  Sag  Harbor,  attacked  the  place  near  mid- 
night, burned  twelve  vessels  and  many  stores,  and  returned 
with  ninety  prisoners.  The  invasions  of  Tryon,  whose 
fleet  had  lingered  threateningly  along  the  coast,  brought 
much  suffering  to  Connecticut  in  1779.  On  July  3,  as  the 
people  of  New  Haven  were  preparing  to  celebrate  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  the  town  was  thrown  into  alarm  by 
the  news  that  Tryon's  fleet  of  forty-eight  sail  had  dropped 
anchor  at  West  Haven,  and  three  thousand  men  were  on  the 
march  for  the  city.  They  advanced  in  two  detachments, 
one  marching  from  West  Haven,  the  other  capturing  a  small 
fort  at  Black  Rock,  then  meeting  the  first  contingent  on  the 
common  at  one  o'clock.  The  town  was  plundered  until 
the  next  morning,  and  acts  of  cruelty  and  destruction  of 
property  are  described  in  the  traditions.  On  July  8,  Tryon 
destroyed  Fairfield,  also  Green's  Farms.  Norwalk  was  the 
next  to  go  up  in  flames;  and  at  the  next  landing,  so  many 
resolute  men  met  him  that  he  retired.  His  loss  of  three 
hundred  men  in  the  plundering  expeditions  was  a  severe 
punishment,  and  the  injury  inflicted  on  Connecticut  was  less. 
We  cannot  say  much  about  the  share  of  Connecticut  in 
the  navy  of  the  Revolution,  though  Silas  Deane,  while  in 
Congress,  did  all  he  could  toward  obtaining  vessels,  a  work 
which  he  continued  when  in  Paris,  for  which  he  has  been 
called  The  Father  of  the  American  Navy.  Privateers  were 
fitted  out  in  the  colony,  and  the  captures  by  Connecticut 
ships  in  1777,  amounted  to  two  hundred  thousand  pounds. 
The  Connecticut  navy  was  a  motley  fleet,  from  whale- 
boats  to  frigates,  and  there  was  difficulty  in  securing  arma- 
ment, though  early  in  the  war  the  iron-works  of  Benjamin 
Williams  and  Ebenezer  Backus  in  their  foundry  at  Salisbury, 
making  cannon  and  balls,  and  James  Tilley  manufacturing 
cordage,  met  the  need  in  part.  In  1777,  two  frigates  were 
built  in  Connecticut  for  the  war,  the  Trumbull  and  the 


292  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

Confederacy.  Admiral  George  F.  Emmons  compiled  a  list 
of  the  privateers  fitted  out  in  the  state,  and  he  made  a  total 
of  two  hundred  vessels,  carrying  sixteen  hundred  guns  and 
nearly  eight  thousand  men,  though  it  is  impossible  to  be 
accurate,  as  names  and  descriptions  of  the  ships  are  so 
confused.  Many  captures  were  made  by  the  privateers, 
and  the  influence  of  these  vessels  on  the  British  fleet  cruising 
through  the  Sound  was  valuable.  We  have  also  to  mention 
that  the  first  marine  torpedo  known  in  naval  warfare  was  a 
product  of  the  ingenuity  of  David  Bushnell  of  Saybrook;  it 
was  called  the  "American  turtle."  It  was  successful  in 
creating  consternation  and  several  deaths  on  the  deck  of  the 
British  Cerberus,  and  the  flagship  of  Lord  Howe,  the  Eagle, 
barely  escaped  destruction  from  one  of  these  dangerous 
turtles,  near  New  York. 

On  May  22,  1781,  Washington,  Rochambeau,  Knox, 
Duportail,  and  Chastellux  were  holding  a  military  conference 
at  the  Webb  House  in  Wethersfield,  at  which  plans  were  made 
which  led  to  the  surrender  at  Yorktown  of  the  army  of 
Cornwallis.  Negotiations  for  surrender  began  on  October 
17,  the  fourth  anniversary  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne; 
on  October  19,  1781,  General  Lincoln  received  the  sword 
of  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  the  war  was  over.  There  are 
various  estimates  of  the  number  of  men  furnished  by  Con- 
necticut for  the  war,  but  it  could  not  have  fallen  much  short 
of  forty  thousand.  In  his  general  orders  of  June  16,  1782, 
Washington  mentioned  two  states  as  specially  worthy  of 
praise,  one  of  them  being  Connecticut,  of  which  he  said  that 
its  troop  was  "composed  of  as  fine  a  body  of  men  as  were 
in  the  army."  In  May,  1776,  Connecticut  was  formally 
released  from  allegiance  to  the  crown;  and  in  October, the 
General  Assembly  passed  an  act  assuming  the  fimctions  of  a 
state.     In  the  first  section  of  the  act  it  was  enacted, 

That  the  ancient  form  of  civil  government,  contained  in  the 
charter  from  Charles  the  Second,  King  of  England,  and  adopted 


■  Hospitality  Hall,"  Wethersfield.     The  Webb  House  where 

Washington  and  Rochambeau  were  entertained  at 

their  first  meeting  in  1781 


From  the  Connecticut  River  Wethersfield  is  a  view  of  delight; 
her  Christopher  Wren  spire  nestles  among  the  trees,  and 
the  white  stones  of  the  old  burying-ground,  like  a  flock  of 
sheep  on  the  hillside,  appear  quite  English  and  pastoral 


TKe  IVevolvition  293 

by  the  people  of  this  State,  under  the  sole  authority  of  the  people 
thereof,  [be]  independent  of  any  King  or  Prince  whatever.  And 
that  this  Republic  is,  and  shall  forever  be  and  remain,  a  free, 
sovereign,  and  independent  State,  by  the  name  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut. 


This  act  implies  that  the  people  had  always  believed  that 
their  charter  derived  its  validity,  not  from  the  will  of  the 
crown,  but  from  the  consent  of  the  people.  The  insistence 
on  state  sovereignty  was  modified  later.  The  changes 
wrought  by  the  Revolution  are  suggested  by  the  fact  that 
after  the  October  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1775, 
its  acts  were  no  longer  styled  "Acts  of  His  Majesty's  Eng- 
lish Colony  of  Connecticut." 

We  find  a  place  in  this  chapter  to  speak  of  the  Loyalists  or 
Tories, — Grumbletonians,  as  they  were  sometimes  called  in 
those  strenuous  times.  It  is  not  strange  there  should  have 
been  conservative  men,  who  naturally  shrank  from  the  con- 
fusion and  threatening  anarchy  attending  the  insurgents  in 
the  experiment  of  self-government,  and  laid  excessive  stress 
upon  the  fact  that  America  belonged  to  England.  It  would 
perhaps  be  too  strong  a  statement  to  say  with  the  bitter 
critic,  Samuel  Peters,  that  the  "multitude  considered  the 
General  Assembly  to  be  equal  to  the  British  Parliament," 
but  the  experience  of  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  of  self- 
government  as  an  independent  republic  had  fostered  a 
condition,  which  President  D wight  in  his  Travels  describes 
thus:  "In  no  state  of  the  world  was  an  individual  of  more 
importance  as  a  man  than  in  Connecticut.  Such  a  degree 
of  freedom  was  never  before  united  with  such  a  degree  of 
stability."  In  the  upheaval  which  tried  men's  souls  to 
the  utmost,  it  would  be  remarkable  if  good  judgment  and 
self-control  should  prevail  in  every  case,  for  the  seventy- 
two  townships  were  little  republics  with  three  thousand 
town  officials,  who  had  taken  oath  to  do  their  duty  con- 
formably with  the  constitution  and  laws.     A  sharp  watch 


294  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

was  kept  over  every  one;  as  early  as  1702,  an  act  was 
passed  which  ordered  town  clerks  to  keep  a  list  of  all  the 
freemen  in  the  town,  at  every  meeting  to  call  the  roll, 
and  absentees  were  to  pay  a  fine  of  two  shillings.  In  this 
situation  and  with  such  training,  it  is  not  strange  that  in 
moments  of  excitement  some  people  went  to  extremes,  as  in 
Windham,  when  two  men,  known  as  Peter's  Spies,  who  had 
been  arrested  for  carrying  treacherous  correspondence,  were 
forced  to  run  the  gauntlet  between  two  rows  of  women  and 
children  armed  with  switches  and  broomsticks.  In  Sims- 
bury,  a  Tory  was  shot  for  being  beyond  his  premises  after 
being  warned,  and  in  Hartford  another  was  shot  after  a 
similar  warning.  It  is  not  known  what  proportion  of  the 
people  in  the  colonies  were  Tories;  John  Adams  put  the 
proportion  at  about  one-third,  and  another  estimate  is  that 
of  the  twenty-five  thousand  males  between  sixteen  and  fifty 
in  Connecticut  in  1774,  about  two  thousand  were  in  the  class 
of  Loyalists.  Connecticut  had  a  larger  share  than  the  other 
New  England  colonies,  and  they  were  mostly  in  Fairfield 
County.  Considering  that  the  twenty  Episcopal  ministers 
in  the  colony  received  an  annual  stipend  from  the  English 
Missionary  Society,  it  is  not  strange  that  some  of  them  should 
have  thought  that  the  policy  of  the  colonies  was  unwise 
if  not  unjust,  and  destined  to  defeat,  as  well  as  do  injury 
to  their  churches.  Some  of  them  called  it  an  unnatural 
rebellion,  and  when  the  patriotic  spirit  ran  high  in  1774, 
the  Sons  of  Liberty  organized,  Tories  were  treated  as 
social  outlaws,  and  some  towns  passed  resolutions  of  grief 
and  detestation.  It  soon  appeared  that  more  radical 
measures  must  be  taken,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  state 
committees  of  inspection  were  appointed,  consisting  of  from 
fifteen  to  thirty  men  in  each  town — vigilance  committees, 
to  search  into  the  actions  and  disposition  of  every  one  in 
the  community.  On  finding  a  Loyalist  they  forbade  him 
to  leave  his  farm,  and  published  in  one  or  more  of  the 
four  newspapers  of  the  colony  his  name  on  the  first  page 


TKe  IVevolvjtion  295 

under  the  heading:  "persons  held  up  to  view  as  enemies 

OF  THEIR  COUNTRY." 

In  1775,  Congress  advised  the  arrest  of  every  one  who 
might  endanger  the  safety  of  the  colony,  or  the  liberty  of 
America.  Washington  felt  strongly  on  the  subject,  and 
said  to  Governor  Trumbull,  "Seize  the  Tories  that  are  active; 
they  are  preying  on  the  vitals  of  the  country,  and  will  do  all 
the  mischief  in  their  power."  In  December,  1775,  the 
General  Assembly  passed  an  act  which  ordered  that  all  who 
actively  aided  the  enemy  with  supplies  or  information  should 
forfeit  their  estate  and  be  imprisoned  for  a  term,  not  to 
exceed  three  years;  that  those  who  defamed  Congress  or  the 
Assembly  should  be  disfranchised,  keep  no  arms,  and  if 
thought  wise,  be  imprisoned  or  fined;  and  that  those  reported 
"inimical"  were  to  be  disarmed. 

Early  in  1776,  Congress  urged  the  "most  speedy  and 
effectual  measures  to  frustrate  the  mischievous  machinations, 
and  restrain  the  wicked  practices  of  these  men,"  and  the 
governor  and  council  took  action  accordingly ;  a  few  months 
after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  General  Assembly 
ordered  that  any  Loyalist  who  should  aid  the  enemy  should 
be  sentenced  to  death  for  treason,  and  that  any  one  who 
should  have  knowledge  of  such  action  and  should  conceal  the 
fact,  should  be  fined,  and  imprisoned  not  more  than  three 
years.  Informers  multiplied,  especially  in  the  shore-towns, 
and  the  Assembly  ordered  that  no  one  leave  the  state  in  a 
boat  without  a  written  license  from  a  selectman.  In  1777, 
an  act  passed  the  Assembly  to  forbid  any  one  passing  from 
town  to  town  (except  well-known  friendly  people  and  military 
men)  without  a  written  permit  signed  by  some  authority 
of  town  or  army.  At  the  same  session,  an  act  passed  the 
Assembly  enjoining  an  "Oath  of  Fidelity,"  and  whoever 
neglected  to  take  this  could  not  hold  any  office  or  transfer 
real  estate.  Tory  prisoners  were  in  nearly  every  jail,  and  at 
Newgate  prison,  among  the  thirty  or  forty  Loyalist  prisoners 
there  were  Governor  Franklin  of  New  Jersey,  Mayor  Mat- 


296  >\  History  of  Connecticut 

thews  of  New  York  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Church  of  Watertown, 
Mass.,  for  the  story  of  Connecticut  vigilance  went  abroad. 
In  the  summer  of  1777,  Tories  began  to  repent  in  large 
numbers,  as  a  result  of  an  act  of  the  Assembly,  proclaiming 
pardon  to  all  who  were  convinced  of  their  error  and  were 
ready  to  return  to  duty,  and  before  the  close  of  the  war, 
hundreds  took  the  freeman's  oath,  and  received  their  estates 
back  again.  In  1779,  the  Assembly  passed  another  liberal 
act,  inviting  "absconding  Tories  to  return."  The  action  of 
Connecticut,  while  firm  and  positive  toward  men  who  were 
not  in  sympathy  with  the  insurgents,  was  not  revengeful,  and 
both  Assembly  and  towns  were  ready  to  pardon  the  penitent. 
The  part  taken  by  the  state  from  the  wise,  prompt,  and  large- 
minded  governor  to  the  private  in  the  ranks  and  the  faithful 
women  on  the  farms  was  patriotic  and  effective. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

CONNECTICUT  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 
UNITED   STATES 

SO  much  has  been  claimed  for  the  influence  of  this  state 
at  the  convention  which  shaped  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, and  the  part  taken  there  by  three  of  her  ablest  men 
expressed  so  effectively  some  of  the  mature  fruits  of  her 
history  from  the  beginning,  that  no  apology  is  needed  for 
this  chapter.  The  government  by  Confederation  proved  a 
failure.  Not  until  March,  1781,  were  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation finally  ratified  by  the  insurgent  states,  and  in 
their  working  they  had  three  fatal  weaknesses:  no  power  to 
tax,  no  control  of  commerce,  and  no  power  to  arrest  and 
punish  criminals.  In  the  words  of  Jay,  "They  might  declare 
everything,  and  do  nothing."  At  first,  in  stress  of  war, 
ability  and  interest  marked  Congress,  but  representation 
was  bad;  each  state  could  send  from  two  to  seven  delegates, 
but  there  was  no  thought  of  population;  Virginia  with  her 
seven  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  could  command  no 
more  votes  than  Rhode  Island  with  one-tenth  as  many.  Then, 
too,  attendance  fell  off  rapidly  after  the  war;  there  were 
seldom  more  than  twenty-five  present  at  a  time;  Washing- 
ton's resignation  was  received  by  twenty  members  from 
seven  states:  twenty- three  voted  on  the  treaty.  Quarrels 
and  litigations  over  boundaries,  jealousy,  emphasis  on  state 
rights,  heavy  debts,  debased  currency,  and  prostrate  com- 
merce created  a  serious  situation,  and  the  decision  to  hold  a 

297 


298  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

convention  at  Philadelphia  on  May  14,  1787,  was  welcomed 
by  thoughtful  men  as  offering  a  possible  escape  from  the 
difficulties,  and  likely  to  open  an  avenue  into  prosperity. 

We  have  no  record  of  any  controversy  as  to  the  men  who 
should  represent  Connecticut  on  that  momentous  occasion; 
there  were  three  lawyers  in  the  state,  whose  ability,  experi- 
ence, and  good  judgment  placed  them  among  the  controlling 
forces  of  a  convention  that  was  presided  over  by  Washing- 
ton, and  had  in  its  membership  Franklin,  Hamilton,  and 
Madison.  The  oldest  of  these  three  was  Roger  Sherman 
of  New  Haven,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress  from  the  beginning,  and  was  one  of  the  committee 
which  drafted  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the 
Articles  of  Confederation.  He  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade, 
and  losing  his  father  at  twenty,  he  supported  his  mother 
and  several  younger  children,  educated  himself,  and  became  a 
solid  student  in  history,  mathematics,  science,  and  law.  In 
1745,  he  had  become  surveyor  of  the  county,  and  was  an 
owner  of  real  estate.  In  1754,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
and  began  the  practice  of  law.  At  the  age  of  thirty-eight  he 
was  made  judge,  and  two  years  later,  he  moved  from  New 
Milford  to  New  Haven.  Sherman  was  deeply  interested 
from  an  early  age  in  the  political  situation,  and  as  member 
of  the  legislature,  he  was  in  training  for  larger  responsibili- 
ties. He  was  exceeded  in  age  in  the  convention  only  by 
Franklin;  he  had  not  the  slightest  trace  of  eloquence,  ex- 
cept that  of  rugged  intelligence,  wide  knowledge,  and  solid 
common  sense. 

Another  of  the  Connecticut  delegation  was  Oliver  Ellsworth 
of  Windsor,  well-trained,  substantial,  profound  and  experi- 
enced, he  added  calm  wisdom  to  the  convention,  and  after- 
wards was  chosen  to  be  chief  justice  of  the  state  and  of  the 
United  States.  The  third  delegate  was  William  Samuel 
Johnson,  who  was  born  in  Stratford,  educated  at  Yale,  became 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  and  was  member  of  Congress 
from  1784-87.     He  was  eminent  as  scholar  and  lawyer,  and 


Roger  Sherman  (1721-1793) 
Judge  of  Superior  Court,  Senator,  Mayor  of  New  Haven.  He 
was  the  only  signer  in  the  thirteen  colonies  of  the  four  fundamen- 
tal documents  of  the  government:  Articles  of  Association  in 
1774,  Declaration  of  Independence  in  1776,  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion in  1777  and  Federal  Constitution  in  1787. 


Connecticut  and  tKe  Federal  Constit\ition  299 

was  one  of  the  few  Americans  whose  learning  had  gained  rec- 
ognition abroad,  for  Oxford  made  him  doctor  of  Civil  Laws, 
and  the  Royal  Society  had  called  him  to  its  membership. 
These  three  men  went  to  the  convention  representing 
different  shades  of  opinion,  but  in  perfect  harmony  with  one 
another  in  their  desire  to  give  expression  to  the  system  of 
government,  which  had  been  carefully  wrought  out  in 
Connecticut,  whose  governor  and  council,  because  of  the 
singular  liberality  of  the  charter,  were  chosen  by  majority 
vote  and  by  almost  universal  suffrage.  Connecticut  had 
also  been  careful  to  maintain  the  substantial  equality  of  the 
new  towns  in  at  least  one  branch  of  the  legislature ;  her  dele- 
gates were  consequently  in  sympathy  with  the  idea  of  the 
equality  of  the  states  in  one  branch  of  Congress.  The 
combination  of  commonwealth  and  town  rights  had  worked 
together  so  harmoniously  in  Connecticut  that  her  represen- 
tatives in  the  convention  were  prepared  to  suggest  a  similar 
combination  of  national  and  state  rights  as  the  foundation 
of  the  new  government.  For  a  century  and  a  half,  the 
judicious  mixture  of  national  and  federal  elements,  which 
are  now  united  in  the  National  Government,  were  tried  out 
in  a  rudimentary  way  in  the  little  commonwealth  of  Con- 
necticut, whose  delegates  went  to  the  convention  rich  with 
the  fruitage  of  the  statesmanship  of  Ludlow,  Hooker,  and 
Haynes. 

Three  views  concerning  the  states  prevailed  in  the  con- 
vention: the  first,  that  they  were  sovereign  and  independent, 
and  should  be  allowed  to  resume  at  any  time  the  complete 
control  of  their  interests.  This  view  was  widely  held,  and 
it  was  generally  felt  that  the  union  under  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  was  secured  by  a  yielding  of  something  to  the 
general  government,  whereas  the  states  were  never  sovereign, 
and  as  colonies  had  been  united  through  the  crown.  The 
second  view  was:  that  the  events  of  the  past  twelve  years 
had  practically  established  a  nation;  this  was  the  high 
Federalist  view  set  forth  by  Jay,  Webster,  Story,  and  Curtis. 


300  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

The  third  view  lay  between  the  other  two,  and  was  well 
expressed  by  Elbridge  Gerry,  who  said:  "We  are  neither 
the  same  nation,  nor  different  nations."  This  middle  view 
held  that  the  states  were  free  political  agents,  and  also  were 
in  such  relations  with  one  another  that  they  must  form  a 
union  of  a  national  character. 

Two  plans  came  to  the  front  early  in  the  convention — 
the  Virginia  Plan,  presented  by  Randolph  of  Virginia,  who 
outlined  a  National  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of 
America;  the  chief  author  of  this  plan  was  Madison.  It 
struck  at  the  root  of  the  weakness  of  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation, and  proposed  a  strong  and  self-sufficient  govern- 
ment by  establishing  two  branches  of  the  national  legislature. 
The  first  was  to  be  elected  by  the  people,  and  its  membership 
to  be  apportioned  to  each  state  according  to  its  quota 
of  contribution,  or  to  the  number  of  free  inhabitants;  the 
second  was  to  be  elected  by  the  first.  Each  branch  was 
to  have  the  right  of  originating  acts,  and  to  the  national 
legislature  were  delegated  the  rights  vested  in  Congress  by 
the  Articles  of  Confederation.  It  was  to  legislate  on  all 
cases  to  which  the  separate  states  were  incompetent,  or  in 
which  the  harmony  of  the  United  States  might  be  disturbed 
by  individual  legislation.  It  was  to  have  power  to  negative 
all  laws  passed  by  the  several  states  contravening  the 
Articles  of  Union,  and  to  call  out  the  national  army  against 
any  state  failing  to  fulfil  its  duties.  A  national  executive 
was  to  be  elected  by  the  legislature,  to  be  ineligible  for  a 
second  term.  There  was  to  be  a  council  of  revision,  con- 
sisting of  members  of  the  national  judiciary,  to  have  a  veto 
over  any  act  of  the  national  legislature.  The  legislative, 
executive,  and  judiciary  powers  of  the  state  were  required 
to  take  oath  to  support  the  articles  of  the  Union.  These 
resolutions  were  at  once  considered  in  the  committee  of  the 
whole,  where  the  general  idea  of  a  strong  and  self-sufficient 
government  was  adopted  by  a  narrow  majority. 

On  June  4,  a  question  came  up  which  nearly  wrecked  the 


Connecticut  and  tHe  Federal  Constitxition  301 

convention.  This  was  the  question  as  to  how  the  states  should 
be  represented  in  the  new  Congress.  On  the  Virginia  Plan, 
the  smaller  states  would  be  practically  powerless.  Then 
Patterson  of  New  Jersey  presented  a  series  of  resolutions 
unfolding  the  Jersey  Plan,  providing  for  the  establishment 
of  a  federal,  instead  of  a  national  government,  continuing 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  with  the  power  of  coercing 
insubordinate  states.  This  was  a  scheme  to  insure  the 
safety  of  the  small  states  against  the  large  ones.  This  plan 
favored  only  one  branch  of  the  national  legislature,  whose 
power  was  to  be  derived  from  the  states.  Instead  of  one 
executive  head  it  favored  more  than  one.  This  became 
known  as  the  State  Sovereignty  Plan.  The  discussion  be- 
came heated;  the  situation  dangerous.  "The  convention," 
Martin  said,  "was  on  the  verge  of  dissolution,  scarce  held 
together  by  the  strength  of  a  hair."  William  Patterson  of 
New  Jersey  argued  the  case  of  the  small  states  with  decided 
skill,  insisting  that  if  proportional  representation  prevailed, 
the  small  states  would  practically  have  no  representation. 
On  Monday,  June  11,  Roger  Sherman  proposed  a  compro- 
mise, suggesting  that  there  should  be  proportional  representa- 
tion in  the  first  branch,  and  that  in  the  second  branch  every 
state  should  have  one  vote.  This  proposal  embodied  the 
famous  Connecticut  compromise,  but  it  attracted  little 
attention  at  first,  as  the  delegates  from  the  large  states  were 
still  intent  on  proportional  representation  in  both  houses. 
On  June  1 1 ,  it  was  voted  that  the  representation  in  the  first 
branch  should  be  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  the  free 
inhabitants,  plus  ' '  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons. ' '  Sherman 
immediately  attempted  to  introduce  the  Connecticut  com- 
promise by  moving  that  every  state  should  have  one  vote 
in  the  second  branch.  This  was  promptly  defeated  by  the 
large  states.  On  June  14,  Patterson  proposed  the  New 
Jersey  plan  of  a  loose  confederation,  instead  of  a  strong 
national  government  proposed  by  Randolph.  Patterson's 
plan  was  based  on  the  states,  as  Randolph's  was  based  on 


302  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

the  people.  After  a  discussion  of  four  days,  the  New  Jersey 
plan  was  rejected,  and  eight  days  later,  the  question  of  equal 
or  proportionate  representation  was  reopened,  and  was 
discussed  until  June  29,  when  Johnson  of  Connecticut  urged 
that  "in  one  branch  the  people  ought  to  be  represented, 
in  the  other  the  states."  This  compromise  again  fell  on 
unfriendly  ears,  and  when  the  vote  was  taken,  the  small 
states  found  themselves  in  a  minority  of  four  to  six. 

At  this  point  Ellsworth  advanced  the  plan  of  the  com- 
promise, moving  that  "the  rule  of  suffrage  in  the  second 
branch  be  the  same  as  that  established  by  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,"  which  would  imply  equal  representation 
of  the  states  in  the  second  branch,  Ellsworth  made  a 
strong  plea  for  compromise,  urging  that  both  the  large  and 
small  states  should  listen,  as  Connecticut  "held  a  middle 
rank."  But  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe,  and  an  angry  debate 
continued  for  three  days.  Franklin  urged  the  compromise, 
using  the  famous  illustration,  "When  a  broad  table  is  to  be 
made,  and  the  edges  of  the  planks  do  not  fit,  the  artist  takes 
a  little  from  both  that  he  may  make  a  good  joint."  The 
fever  of  debate  rose,  and  Ellsworth's  compromise  was  lost 
by  a  tie  vote,  the  larger  states  voting  solidly  against  it.  It 
was  the  most  critical  hour  of  the  convention.  "No  compro- 
mise for  us,"  said  Luther  Martin  of  Maryland,  "you  must 
give  each  state  an  equal  suffrage,  or  our  business  is  at  an 
end."  "Then  we  are  come  to  a  full  stop,"  said  Roger 
Sherman.  "I  suppose  it  was  never  meant  that  we  should 
break  up  without  doing  something."  Then  Pinckney  moved 
that  a  committee  from  each  state  be  appointed  "to  devise 
and  report  some  compromise, "  and  the  convention  adjourned 
from  July  2  to  5.  On  the  morning  of  July  5,  Gerry  made 
a  compromise  report,  that  was  favorable  to  the  smaller 
states;  providing  that  there  should  be  one  representative 
to  every  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  that  every  state 
should  have  at  least  one  representative,  regardless  of  popula- 
tion.    It  was  also  provided  that  money  bills  should  originate 


Connecticut  and  tKe  Federal  Constit\ition  303 

in  the  lower  branch — a  concession  to  the  larger  states.  The 
report  also  recommended  that  in  the  second  branch  each 
state  should  have  "an  equal  vote."  In  the  discussion  that 
followed  for  eleven  days,  the  larger  states  opposed  the  report ; 
Ellsworth,  who  had  been  the  Connecticut  member  of  the 
committee,  spoke  for  it ;  Gerry  and  Mason  thought  it  better 
than  anarchy.  Then  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina  moved  a 
number  according  to  population  for  the  senate,  but  Sherman 
was  firm  for  an  equality,  and  after  long  and  hot  discussion 
Pinckney 's  motion  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  six  to  four.  On 
Monday,  July  16,  it  was  voted  that  there  be  an  equality 
of  representation  in  the  second  branch.  It  appears  from 
this  rapid  review  that  the  "Connecticut  Compromise," 
introduced  and  wisely  and  steadily  supported  by  Sherman, 
Ellsworth,  and  Johnson,  was  indispensable  to  the  success 
of  the  convention. 

In  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  February  12,  1847,  John  C. 
Calhoun  described  the  struggle  between  the  two  opposing 
forces  in  the  convention :  one  seeking  a  national  government ; 
the  other  a  confederacy  of  states :  after  speaking  of  the  great 
services  of  Madison,  he  said : 

It  is  owing  mainly  to  the  states  of  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey 
that  we  have  a  Federal  instead  of  a  National  government — the 
best  government,  instead  of  the  worst  and  most  intolerable  on 
earth.  Who  are  the  men  of  these  states  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  this  admirable  government?  I  will  name  them — 
their  names  ought  to  be  engraven  on  brass  and  live  forever. 
They  were  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth,  Roger  Sherman,  and  Judge 
Patterson  of  New  Jersey.  To  the  coolness  and  sagacity  of 
these  three  men,  aided  by  a  few  others,  not  so  prominent,  we 
owe  the  present  constitution. 

The  Connecticut  proposal  went  to  a  committee  of  detail, 
July  26,  and  the  constitution  of  the  Senate,  which  was  re- 
ported, was  finally  adopted;  the  system  of  complete  local 
liberty,  with  a  limited   central   power,  which  had  proved 


304  -A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

so  successful  on  the  Connecticut  River,  passed  into  the 
government  of  the  whole  country,  and  has  proved  far  more 
efficient  in  securing  prosperity  than  the  framers  of  the  Con- 
stitution dreamed.  There  was  some  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  method  of  choice  of  executive  in  case  the  Electoral 
College  failed  to  elect,  but  Sherman  came  to  the  rescue 
and  proposed  a  compromise  whereby  the  election  was 
assigned  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  with  the  provision 
that  each  state  should  have  but  one  vote.  Sherman  and 
Johnson  signed  it;  the  unavoidable  departure  of  Ellsworth 
before  the  adjournment  of  the  convention  is  the  reason  why 
his  name  is  not  found  on  the  document. 

The  state  convention,  called  to  ratify  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution, met  in  Hartford,  January  4,  1788.  The  delegates 
were  addressed  by  Oliver  Ellsworth,  Governor  Huntington, 
Richard  Law,  and  Oliver  Wolcott,  and  on  January  9,  the 
constitution  was  ratified  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  to  forty.  Ellsworth  and  Johnson  were  chosen 
to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  Connecticut  was 
merged  in  the  larger  government.  It  is  interesting  to 
consider  what  further  advantage  the  insight  of  Sherman 
might  have  been  to  the  country,  if  a  suggestion  of  his  during 
the  discussion  on  the  executive  had  been  followed.  He  said 
that  the  magistracy  was 

nothing  more  than  an  institution  for  carrying  the  will  of  the 
legislature  into  effect;  that  the  person  or  persons  ought  to  be 
appointed  by  and  accountable  to  the  legislature  only,  which  was 
the  depository  of  the  supreme  will  of  society.  As  they  were 
the  best  judges  of  the  business  which  ought  to  be  done  by  the 
executive  department  ...  he  wished  the  number  might  not  be 
fixed,  but  that  the  legislature  should  be  at  liberty  to  appoint 
one  or  more,  as  experience  might  dictate. 

This  would  have  made  our  executive  a  body  of  men 
similar  to  the  English  Ministry,  and  might  have  furnished 
us  with  a  government  simpler,  less  exposed  than  now  to 


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Connectic\it  and  tKe  Federal  Constitvition  305 

periodic  and  often  exciting  and  depressing  shocks  of  violent 
campaigns. 

Though  the  Constitution  was  a  product  of  compromises, 
and  required  several  amendments  to  perfect  it,  especially 
in  the  declaration  of  rights;  and  though  it  contained  one 
defect  which  was  washed  out  by  the  blood  of  half  a  million 
men,  it  saved  the  country  from  anarchy,  and  probably  from 
the  establishment  of  several  petty  governments.  It  also 
opened  a  door  into  an  unrivalled  freedom  and  prosperity. 

The  question  just  how  decided  was  the  influence  of  the 
Fundamental  Orders  of  1639,  and  the  government  of  Con- 
necticut upon  the  United  States  Constitution  is  difficult  to 
answer.  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  influence  of  the 
Connecticut  delegates  in  the  convention,  but  the  principles 
which  entered  into  the  Constitution  were  the  ripe  fruit  of 
many  centuries  of  growth,  brought  to  maturity  by  construc- 
tive Anglo-Saxon  minds.  There  were  accomplished  scholars 
in  the  convention,  who  were  familiar  with  all  that  had  been 
said  and  done  in  forming  and  advancing  republican  institu- 
tions in  the  days  of  the  Hebrews,  the  Greek  cities,  the 
Swiss  commonwealths,  the  history  of  England,  and  in  the 
experiences  in  the  different  colonies.  The  preamble,  which 
Lieber  calls  "the  most  magnificent  words  I  know  in  all 
history,"  has  a  marked  similarity  to  the  Massachusetts 
constitution  of  1780.  Gorham  was  a  member  of  the 
committee  which  drafted  that  constitution,  and  he  was  also 
a  member  of  the  committee  of  detail,  to  prepare  a  draft  of 
the  Federal  Constitution.  The  title  United  States  of 
America  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  name  of  the 
United  States  of  the  Netherlands,  or  possibly  by  R.  H.  Lee's 
famous  motion  of  June  7,  1776,  "That  these  United  Colonies 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states." 
The  origin  of  the  method  of  having  two  houses  of  Congress 
is  suggested  by  the  legislatures  of  various  states,  and  the 
first  system  of  the  kind  is  found  in  Massachusetts,  where 
it  was  fully  developed  in  1644,  though  the  English  parliament 


3o6  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

had  been  divided  into  two  houses  for  four  hundred  years, 
at  the  time  that  the  American  Constitution  was  formed. 
Admitting  all  this  it  may  still  be  said  that  the  implicit 
influence  of  the  Connecticut  Constitution  of  1639,  and  the 
weight  of  the  Connecticut  delegates,  Sherman,  Ellsworth, 
and  Johnson  because  of  their  ability  and  experience  gave 
Connecticut  a  decided  trend  to  the  convention. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

CONDITIONS  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE 
EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 

THAT  we  may  keep  clearly  in  mind  the  development  of 
the  commonwealth,  it  seems  best,  at  risk  of  repetition, 
to  take  a  general  view  of  Connecticut  as  she  entered  state- 
hood. When  the  war  ended,  while  the  financial  situation 
was  dark,  commerce  paralyzed,  trade  at  the  mercy  of  rivals 
with  their  heavy  imposts,  fisheries  annihilated,  some  of  the 
foreign  markets  closed,  many  of  the  merchants  bankrupt, 
and  the  moral  and  religious  life  at  low  ebb,  there  was  soon 
felt  the  throb  of  a  vigorous  and  inventive  energy,  which 
soon  seized  the  industries,  the  farms,  the  musical,  and  artistic 
taste  of  the  people.  For  several  years  there  was  much 
anxiety  lest  the  National  Government  should  be  unsteady, 
and  the  widespread  feeling  of  insecurity  was  a  poor  tonic 
to  capitalists.  A  sign  of  the  morbid  timidity  of  the  tirne 
appears  in  the  worry  over  the  Order  of  Cincinnati,  an  inno- 
cent society  of  the  veterans  of  the  war,  organized  by  General 
Knox  to  secure  some  inextravagant  benefits  for  the  old 
soldiers.  The  extreme  democratic  feeling  in  Connecticut 
was  suspicious  of  this  order,  which  was  about  as  dangerous 
as  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  It  was  imagined  by 
some  that  the  officers  of  the  Revolution  were  grafters  and 
harpies,  who  were  attempting  to  obtain  riches,  which  would 
impoverish  their  fellow-citizens,  and  Congress  was  thought 
to   be   corrupt   for  aiding   them.     These   sentiments   were 

307 


3o8  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

expressed  in  a  convention  in  Middletown,  and  concurred 
in  by  the  General  Assembly  at  its  October  session  of  1783. 
Connecticut  did  not  object  to  taxation,  but  she  was  unwilling 
to  be  taxed  to  advance  the  Order  of  Cincinnati.  There 
was  danger  for  a  time  of  sedition  among  the  uninformed,  but 
soon  the  common  sense  of  the  more  intelligent  minority  pre- 
vailed to  support  the  measures  of  Congress,  and  tranquillity 
was  restored. 

There  was  a  contest  over  the  western  lands  belonging 
to  the  state,  the  strip  extending  to  the  Pacific,  according  to 
the  charter  of  Charles  II.  A  section  of  this,  situated  in  the 
valley  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  called  Westmoreland,  had 
been  surveyed  and  scantily  settled,  as  we  have  seen,  and  in 
the  absence  of  most  of  the  men,  who  were  in  the  army,  was 
the  object  of  a  brutal  attack  and  massacre  at  the  hands  of 
English  and  Indians.  Two  weeks  after  the  surrender  of 
Cornwallis,  Pennsylvania  petitioned  Congress  to  arbitrate 
upon  her  claims  on  that  territory.  The  escape  from  the 
dilemma  was  through  a  reference  of  the  question  to  a  board 
of  commissioners  from  New  England,  Ne!w  Jersey,  and 
Virginia.  After  sessions  continuing  for  forty-one  judicial 
days,  the  following  verdict  was  reached  on  December  13, 
1782:  "We  are  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that  the  juris- 
diction and  pre-emption  of  all  territory  lying  within  the 
charter  of  Pennsylvania,  and  now  claimed  by  the  state  of 
Connecticut,  do  of  right  belong  to  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania." Though  the  request  of  Connecticut  for  time  to 
secure  testimony  from  England  was  denied,  and  the  decision 
was  considered  unjust  in  the  state,  it  was  promptly  ac- 
quiesced in,  and  a  land  grant  was  made  in  place  of  the 
section  taken  away,  and  that  part  of  Ohio  called  the  Western 
Reserve  of  Connecticut,  which  exceeded  in  area  the  original 
domain  on  the  river,  came  into  the  possession  of  the  state. 

After  the  Revolution,  various  industries  sprang  into  a 
flourishing  life.  The  tin  business,  referred  to  in  an  earlier 
chapter,  beginning  in  Berlin,  was  resumed  after  the  war  by 


The  Old  Home  of  Roger  Sherman,  "The  Signer"  and  first  Mayer 

of  New  Haven.     The  House  was  built  by  him  in  1789 

and  stands  on  Chapel  Street  near  High, 

remodelled  into  Stores 


Temple  Street,  New  Haven 


Conditions  at  Close  of  18tH  Centiary        309 

some  young  men  who  learned  the  trade  from  the  Pattisons, 
and  with  the  improvement  in  highways,  wagons  multipHed, 
and  the  peddlers  gradually  added  other  goods,  such  as 
pins,  needles,  shoes,  and  hats;  going  through  New  England, 
and  out  into  the  western  and  southern  states.  Starting  in 
the  spring,  they  traveled  through  summer  and  autumn,  ar- 
ranging to  have  supplies  ready  for  them  at  certain  centers, 
and  returning  to  New  York,  at  the  close  of  the  season,  they 
sold  horses  and  wagon,  and  took  the  boat  for  home,  well 
repaid  for  their  shrewdness  and  enterprise,  and,  if  reports 
are  true,  for  their  sharp  bargains.  Timothy  Dwight  says 
of  them  in  his  Travels,  "No  course  of  life  tends  more 
rapidly  to  eradicate  every  moral  feeling."  There  was 
an  industry  resembling  the  tin  peddler  business  estab- 
lished in  1793,  by  Thomas  Bugbee,  Jr., — pottery  works, 
which  manufactured  pots,  jars,  mugs,  milk-pans,  ink-stands, 
and  a  hundred  other  articles,  which  were  sold  all  over 
Windham  County  from  pottery  carts.  The  advertisements 
in  the  papers  of  the  day  suggest  the  life  of  the  people;  the 
Windham  Herald  announces  that  John  Burgess  offered  for 
sale  "excellent  good  leather,"  also  a  new-fashioned  four- 
wheeled  vehicle  called  a  wagon,  an  impracticable  invention 
in  the  judgment  of  many.  There  were  opportunities  to 
buy  brown,  white,  and  striped  tow-cloth  of  home  manufac- 
ture, also  blue,  white,  and  striped  mittens,  stockings  of  all 
textures  and  colors,  shoe-thread,  cheeses,  butter,  geese- 
feathers,  rags,  brass,  copper,  rabbit  skins  and  other  furs. 
Dealers  were  profuse  and  urgent  in  offering  their  wares, 
and  in  the  list  we  find  "good  sweet  rum"  at  five  and  six- 
pence a  gallon,  and  the  best  Jamaica  rum  at  one  dollar  and 
sixpence  a  gallon.  Patent  medicines  also  were  coming  into 
use,  and  "Lee's  Windham  Bilious  Pills"  had  so  great  a 
reputation  that  some  of  the  lawyers  at  the  courts  declared 
that  it  would  ward  off  disease  to  carry  a  box  of  these  pills 
in  the  pocket. 

The  physician  was  an  important  member  of  the  com- 


310  A  History  of  Connecticut 

munity,  but  his  education  was  brief  and  meager,  as  germs 
had  not  been  dreamed  of,  and  the  delirious  labyrinth  of  the 
nervous  system  was  still  an  undiscovered  country,  since  it 
was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  the 
first  work  on  the  nervous  system  was  published.  There  was 
a  good  deal  of  doctoring  done,  for  which  the  physician  was 
not  responsible;  large  quantities  of  loathsome  drugs  and 
decoctions  were  swallowed  by  sick  and  well.  The  spring 
dosing  was  regarded  as  essential  to  health,  and  sulphur, 
senna,  rhubarb,  with  or  without  molasses,  were  forced 
down  young  and  old  to  clean  out,  tone  up,  and  regulate  the 
stomach,  kidneys,  and  liver.  Feverish  patients  were  denied 
or  stinted  in  the  use  of  cooling  drinks,  bleeding  was  a  favor- 
ite panacea  for  many  an  ill,  and  mercury  a  popular  drug. 

The  costumes  of  this  period  differed  slightly  from  those 
of  an  earlier  time;  ladies  wore  high-heeled  shoes,  silk  or 
satin  bonnets,  and  brocaded  dresses  with  tight  sleeves. 
Hoops  were  again  in  use,  and  a  woman  who  was  "  so  poor  that 
she  hadn't  a  bead  to  her  neck"  was  indeed  to  be  pitied. 
The  close  economy  that  had  prevailed  when  Mistress  Nott 
of  Ashford  clipped  the  half -grown  fleece  from  the  back  of  a 
sheep,  and  made  a  suit  of  clothes  for  a  son  in  a  single  week, 
was  giving  way  to  more  stylish  garments.  There  were  fewer 
quaint  old  figures  than  formerly,  that  could  be  identified  as 
far  as  seen  by  the  old  cocked  hat  and  the  many  caped  great 
coat,  worn  a  lifetime.  Wages  were  low;  a  faithful  hired  man 
carried  on  General  Cleaveland's  farm  for  seventy  pounds  a 
year;  three  shillings  a  day  in  produce  was  paid  a  farm 
laborer;  a  working  woman  would  toil  through  a  week  for 
two  and  sixpence,  while  a  poor  man  would  walk  miles  with 
his  boy,  and  dig  potatoes  for  one  bushel  in  ten.  Ten  dollars 
a  month  was  the  salary  of  the  schoolmaster,  with  "board- 
ing around,"  and  five  shillings  a  week  was  the  pittance  of 
the  schoolma'am.  Wanderers  were  seen  going  from  place 
to  place, — some  of  them  Indians,  grim,  gaunt,  and  taciturn, 
extorting  food  and  cider.     Amusements  were  still  primitive, 


A  Yankee  Tin  Peddler 


The  Wethersfield  Elm,  Twenty-six  and  a  Half  Feet  in  Girth.     The  Largest  Elm 

East  Of  The  Rockies 


Oonditions  at  Close  of  IStK  Century       311 

and  inclined  toward  coarseness.  Dancing  was  much  en- 
joyed, and  reels,  jigs,  and  hornpipes  were  more  popular  than 
the  stately  minuet.  Card  parties,  shooting  matches,  and 
tavern  dinners,  with  plenty  of  rum,  gin,  and  tobacco  were  in 
fashion.  Everybody  drank,  ministers  no  less  than  others, 
in  those  gay  and  frolicsome  days  following  the  heavy  strain 
of  the  war.  If  a  minister  made  several  calls  in  an  afternoon, 
he  enjoyed  such  a  mixture  of  drinks  that  it  was  not  easy 
always  for  him  to  walk  the  straight  and  narrow  path  on  his 
journey  home. 

There  was  no  post-office  in  Norwich  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  the  New  London  office  was  the  station  for  letter 
delivery  for  the  region.  Papers  and  bundles  were  carried 
from  house  to  house  by  post-riders,  and  letters  requiring 
payment  often  lay  weeks  before  they  were  claimed.  The 
government  estabHshed  a  post-office  in  Norwich  in  1782, 
with  mails  twice  a  week  by  three  stage  routes — Hartford 
by  Windham,  New  Haven  by  New  London,  and  Boston  by 
Providence.  It  was  expensive  to  send  letters,  and  the 
amount  of  postage  depended  on  the  distance;  there  were 
distances  over  which  a  letter  could  be  sent  for  fifty  cents. 
Libraries  were  starting  here  and  there;  in  1738,  Lyme  and 
Guilford  had  a  library  association,  and  in  the  following  year, 
the  Union  Library  Association  was  formed  by  Woodstock, 
Pomfret,  and  Killingley,  but  on  account  of  poor  roads, 
the  library  was  divided  between  the  towns,  and  later,  the 
Pomfret  and  Mortlake  library  became  a  highly  cherished 
institution.  The  art  of  printing  was  introduced  into 
Connecticut  in  1709,  by  Thomas  Short  of  New  London,  who 
published  the  Saybrook  Platform  in  1710.  The  printing 
press  made  possible  the  coming  of  journalism;  the  pioneer 
paper  being  the  Connecticut  Gazette  of  New  Haven;  a  four- 
page,  two-column  weekly  sheet,  with  a  subscription  price 
of  ten  shillings  a  year.  The  first  date  of  this  paper  was 
January  i,  1755.  Three  years  later,  the  New  London  Sum- 
mary was  started.    The  first  number  of  the  Connecticut 


312  -A  History  of  Connecticvit 

Courant  appeared  October  28, 1764.  This  is  the  oldest  news- 
paper in  the  United  States  with  a  continuous  name  and 
publication;  there  are  only  two  others  that  antedate  it  even 
nominally. 

As  the  stress  of  war  passed,  the  hunger  of  the  people 
for  knowledge  and  the  news  sought  gratification.  Noah 
Webster  wrote  in  1790,  "I  am  acquainted  with  parishes 
where  almost  every  householder  has  read  the  works  of  Addi- 
son, Sherlock,  Atterbury,  Watts,  Young  and  other  familiar 
writings;  and  will  converse  handsomely  on  the  subjects  of 
which  they  treat."  He  also  says,  "By  means  of  the  gen- 
eral circulation  of  the  public  papers  the  people  are  informed 
of  all  political  affairs,  and  their  representatives  are  often  pre- 
pared to  debate  upon  propositions  madeby  the  legislature." 
By  1785,  there  was  in  Connecticut  a  newspaper  circulation 
of  over  eight  thousand  weekly  copies.  These  papers  lacked 
locals  and  leaders,  and  gave  many  letters  and  much  foreign 
news,  though  often  three  months  old,  and  proceedings  of  Con- 
gress ten  days  after  the  occurrence.  In  1786,  the  Connecticut 
Courant  apologized  for  the  meager  reports  of  the  legisla- 
ture, and  promised  to  give  full  details.  This  reporting  was 
a  new  thing,  and  it  was  five  years  before  it  became  general 
among  the  six  papers  published  in  the  state. 

The  improving  of  the  roads  made  possible  the  circulation 
of  the  newspapers,  and  the  era  developing  turnpikes  and 
stage-lines  was  on.  Wagons  had  run  between  the  cities 
long  before  the  Revolution,  but  the  stage-coach  waited 
until  after  the  war.  In  1790,  Litchfield  had  a  fortnightly 
conveyance  to  New  York  and  a  weekly  one  to  Hartford. 
From  1800,  there  was  a  daily  stage  from  Hartford  to  New 
Haven,  Norwalk,  Poughkeepsie,  and  Albany.  Saddle-bags 
and  pillions  were  giving  way  to  wagons  and  carriages. 

The  whaling  business  was  assuming  considerable  pro- 
portions, and  New  London  was  the  whaling  port  of  Connecti- 
cut. Not  much  was  accomplished  in  the  industry  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  though  whales  appeared  in  the  Sound. 


The  Connedicut  Courant. 


MONDAY,    October    2^,     1764. 


(Number  oo.j 


HARTFORD:     Printed   by  T  h  o  m  a  s    G  r  e  e  n  ,   at  me   Heart  and  Crown, 
near  the   Noith-Sleeting-Houfe. 


o 


Hartford^  08oba  29M,  1764. 

F  all  the  Arts  which  have  b«n  introduc'd  amongfl  Mankind,  for  the  civilizing  Hamart-Nature,  and  rendering  Life 
agreeable  and  happy,  none  appear  of  greater  Advantage  than  that  of  Printing :  for  heTeby  the  grcateft  Geniu»'» 
of  all  Ages,  and  Nations,  live  and  fpeak  for  the  Benefit  of  future  Generations. — 

Was  it  not  for  the  Prcfs,  we  ftiould  be  left  almnft  intirely  ignorant  of  all  thofc  noble  Sentim;ncs  which  the  Antiento 
?erc  cndow'd  with. 

By  this  Art,  Men  are  brought  acquainted  with  each  other,  though  never  (o  remote,  as  to  Age  or  Situation ;  it  lays  open 
D  View,  [he  Manners,  Genius  and  Policy  of  all  Nations  and , Countries  and  faithfully  tranfmits  them  to  Pofterity. — But  not 
3  infift  upon  the  Ufcfulncfs  of  this  Art  in  general,  which  muft  be  obviftus  to  every  One,  whofe  Thoughts  are  the  leaft  extcfivc. 


:s,  Ls  it  is  the  Channel  which  conveys  the  History 


The  Benefit  of  a  Weekly   Paper,  muft  in  particular  have  Its  Adv; 
of  the  prcfen;  Times  to  every  Part  of  the  World. 

The  Articles  of  News  from  the  different  Papers  "(which  we  (hall  receive  every  Saturday,  from  the  neighbouring  Provinces) 
that  (hall  appear  to*  us.  to  be  moft  authentic  and  intcrefting  fhall  always  be  carrfully  inferted  ;  and  great  Care  will  be 
taken  to  coUcifl  from  Time  to  Time  all  tiomeftic  Occurrences,  that  are  worthy  the  Notice  of  the  Publick;  for  which,  wC 
fhall  always  be  obliged  to  any  of,  our  Corrcfpondents,  within  whofe  Knowledge  they  may  happen. 

The  CONNECTICUT  COURANT,  (a  Spcchnen  of  which,  the  Publick  are  now  prefented  with)  will,  on  due  En- 
couragement be  continued  every  Monday,  beginning  on  Monday,  the  i9th  of  Novcmbv,  next:  Which  Encouragement 
we  hope  to  deferve,  by  a  coftant  Endeavour  to  render  this  Paper  ufcful,  and  entertaining,  not  only  as  a  Channel  for  News, 
but  aflirting  to  all  Thofe  who  may  have  Occafion  to  make  ufc  of  it  as  an  Advertifcr. 

^rSubfcriptions  for  this  Paper,  will  be  taken  in  at  the  Printing-Office,  near  the  Norch-Mceting-Houfe,  in  Hartford. 


BOSTON,     Oaober   i. 

IT  is  now  out  of  falhion  to  put  on  mourning  at  the  funeral  of 
the  neareft  relation,  which  will  make  a  faving  to  this  town 
of  twenty  thoufand  fterling  per  annum. — It  is  surprizing  how 
fuddenly.  as  well  as  how  generally  an  old  cuftom  is  abolilhed, 
it  (hows  however,  the  good  fenfe  of  the  town,  for  it  is  certain- 
ly prudent  to  retrench  our  extravagant  expcnces,  while  we  have 
fomcthing  left  to  fubfiH  ourselves,  rather  than  be  driven  to  it 
by  fatal  neceffity. 

Wc  hear  that  the  laudable  prafHce  of  frugality  is  now  intro- 
ducing irfclf  in  all  the  neighbouring  towns,  (and  it  were  to  be 
wiftied  it  might  thro'out  the  government)  an  inftancc  of  which 
we  have  from  Charlcftown,  at  a  funeral  there  the  beginning  of 
lad  week,  which  the  relatives  and  others  attended,  without 
any  other  mourning  than  which  is  prefcribed  in  a  reicent  agree- 

Oi^lober  8.  There  feems  to  be  a  dlfpofition  in  many  of  the  in- 
habitants of  this  and  the  neighbouring  governments  to  cloath 
themfelvcs  with  their  own  manufacture.— At  Hampltcad,  on 
Long  Ifland,  in  the  Province  of  N.  York,  a  company  of  gen- 
tlemen have  fet  up  a  new  woolen  manufaftory,  and  having  gi- 
ven notice  to  gentlemen  fhopkecpers  and  others,  of  apyof  t,he 
provinces,  that  by  fending  proper  patterns  of  any  colour,  they 
may  be  fupplied  with  broad-cloths,  equal  in  -finencfs,  colour, 
and  goodncfs,  and  cheaper  than  any  imported:  the  proprie- 
tors give  good  encouragement  to  any  perfon  who  are  any  way 
veiled  in  the  woolen  manufa£lory,  fuch  as  wool  combers,  , 
weavers,  clothiers,  ihearers,  dyers,  fpinners,  cawlcrs,  or  un- 
derlland  any   branch  of  the  broad-cloth,    blanket,    or    ftroud 

manufaclory. At   Jamaica  on  the  faid  illand,   one    Tunis 

Polpham  is  ercfting  a  fullmg-mill,  which  will  be  compleat 
in  about  a  month,  and  carry  on  all  the  branches  of.  a  fuller 
and  dyer  of  cloth. 

The  Surveyor-General  has  appointed  Charles  Antrobus, 
Efq;  to  be  an  officer  of  his  majelly's  cuftoms  to  siezc  -prohi- 
bited and  uncoftomed  goods  in  North-America.      And,     ' 

William  Brown,  Efq;  to  be  collector  of  his  majefl:y7s  cul- 
loms  at  Salem  and  Marblehead. 

Yeftcrday  one  of  his  majefly's  cruizen  arrived  in  King- 
Road;   tis  thought  to  be  the  Cygnet. 

By   a  letter  from   Barbados!  wc  have  advice,  that  Gidney 
Clark.    Efq;   of  that    IHand,   died    there  on   the    27th   of  Au- 
guft  laft,  greatly  lamented. 
.    It  is  now  confidently  affirmed  by  fomc,  which  however  may 


;n  fafi,  that  the  fevcrity  of  the  new  a — t  of  p 1 

iputed   to  letters,    rep rcfen'tat ions,    Narratives, 

ted   to   the  m y  about  two  years  ago  by  per- 

lide  the  water — .And  that  fomc  copies 
of  letters  are-^'ftually  in  this  town,  and  others  scjon  expected. 
— To  whatever  caufc  thefe  fevcrities  are  owing,  it  behooves 
the  colonies  to  represent  their  grievances  in  the  ftrnngcft 
point  of  light,  and  to  unite  in  fuch  meafures  as  njttl  be  ejjcdu- 
ul  to  obtain  redrefs. 

The  northern  colonills  have  fenfe  enough,  at  leaft  the  fenfe 
of  feeling;  and  .can  tell  whcie  the  Jhoe  finches — The  delicate 
ladies  begin  to  find  by  experience,  that  the  Shoes  made  at 
Lyn  are  much  eafier  than  thofc  of  the  make  of  Mr.  Hose  of 
London — What  is  become  of  the  noted  ftioemakcr  of  Eff^x  ? 

It  is  fear'd  by  many  who  wi(h  well  to  Great  Bntjin,  that 

the  new  A— t   of  P 1  will  greatly  diftrcfs,  if  not   totally 

ruin  fome  of  HER  own  manufaaures— It  is  thought  that 
by  means  of  this  A— t,  lefs  of  her  woolen  cloths,  to  the  a- 
jnount  of  fome  thoufands  fterling,  will  be  purchas'd  in  this 
cold  climate  the  infuing  winter. 

.  We  are  told  that  atl  the  Funerals  of  laft  Week  were  con- 
ducted upon  the  new  Plan  of  Frugality. 

Nothing  but  Frugality  can  now  fave  the  drjirefs'd  nor- 
thern colonics  from  impending  ruin — It  ought  to  be  a  confo- 
lation  to  the  good  people  of  a  certain  province,  that  ttle  great- 
eft  man  in  it  exhibits  the  moft  rigid  example  of  this  political 
as  well  as  moral  virtue. 

/J  furpnzing  concatenation  of  events  toone  man  in  one  zi'eeL 

Publilbcd  a  Sunday— married  a  Monday— had  a  Child  a. 
Tuelday— ftole  a  horfe'a  Wedncfday- banilbed  a  Thuri'day 
—died  a  Friday— buried  a  Saturday— all  in  one  Week. 

A'  £   Jr  P  0' R   T,   Odobtr  15. 

Letters  from  Jamaica  inform  us  that  one  of  the  Men  of 
War  on  that  Station  called  lately  at  the  Cape,.and  brought 
away  one  of  the  people  that  had  been  carried  thither  from 
Turks-I/land";  the  Captain  on  asking  the  Reafon  of  their 
Behaviour  there  which  was  looked  on  as  a  Breach  of  the  good 
Undcrftanding  between  the  two  Crowns  received  for  Anfwcr, 
//  was  done  by  Orders  from  the  Courts  of  France  and  Sfymn.  A 
King's  Frigate  was  difpatcbed  by  Admiral  Sir  William  Bur- 
naby  to  Turks-Ifland  and  the  Cape. 

The  Squirrel  man  of  war,  Capt.  Smith,  f;yled  from  this  port: 
for  Habfax  taft  Thurfdav. 


First  page  of  first  copy  of  Connecticut  Courant;  the  oldest  news- 
paper in  the  United  States  with  continuous  name  and 
publication 


Conditions  at  dose  of  IStK  Centviry       313 

When  one  was  caught  it  was  killed  on  shore,  and  the  fat  tried 
out  there.  The  first  ship  fitted  out  for  whaling  from  New 
London  was  in  1 784 ;  but  it  was  the  Commerce,  which  cleared 
February  6,  1794,  that  had  the  honor  of  putting  Connecticut 
into  competition  with  Nantucket.  The  Commerce  returned 
from  the  south  seas  after  fifteen  months,  full  of  oil.  From 
that  time  until  1840,  when  the  business  reached  its  prime, 
the  number  of  ships  increased,  until  at  length  New  Lon- 
don had  seventy-one  ships  and  barks,  one  brig,  six  schooners, 
and  a  capital  of  over  two  million  dollars  invested,  requiring 
the 'services  of  three  thousand    men. 

The  first  man  in  America  to  utilize  steam  as  a  marine 
motive  power  was  John  Fitch,  who  was  born  in  East  Windsor, 
in  1743.  In  1785,  he  built  a  model  of  his  paddle-wheel 
boat ;  the  following  year  his  craft  attained  the  speed  of  seven 
miles  an  hour.  The  following  year  he  launched  a  larger 
boat  on  the  Delaware.  In  1788,  a  patent  was  obtained, 
and  in  the  summer  a  new  steamboat  appeared  with  a  tubular 
boiler,  and  three  paddles  at  the  stern.  On  the  trial  trip, 
a  boiler  pipe  burst ;  the  boat  was  abandoned,  but  afterwards 
repaired  and  run  regularly  between  Philadelphia  and 
Trenton ;  her  maximum  speed  was  eight  miles  an  hour.  At 
the  request  of  a  stockholder  of  the  steamboat  company. 
Fitch  visited  France  to  introduce  his  invention  there.  As 
it  was  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution,  he  received 
no  encouragement,  but  on  returning  home,  he  left  his  draw- 
ings and  specifications  in  the  keeping  of  the  man  who  re- 
quested him  to  visit  France,  and  it  is  said  that  the  man 
showed  them  to  Robert  Fulton,  who  was  at  that  time  experi- 
menting in  France.  Fitch  was  discouraged,  moved  west,  and 
committed  suicide  in  1798. 

It  is  not  possible  to  describe  this  busy  era  through  which 
the  state  was  passing:  the  people  of  Branford  were  making 
salt,  for  which  the  Assembly  paid  eighty  pounds  for  five  hun- 
dred bushels.  Abel  Buell  of  Killingworth  established  a  type 
foundry  in  New  Haven,  and  coined  coppers  for  the  state, 


314  A  History  of  Connecticut 

constructing  a  machine  that  could  produce  one  hundred  and 
twenty  in  a  minute.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  visited 
England  to  learn  about  machinery  for  the  manufacture  of 
cloth,  and  on  his  return  with  a  Scotchman,  named  Mcintosh, 
he  erected  a  cotton  factory.  During  the  ten  years  following 
1783,  General  Humphreys  was  introducing  Spanish  merino 
sheep  to  provide  material  for  the  factories  making  fine 
broadcloth,  for  the  statement  of  Roger  Sherman  at  the 
constitutional  convention  in  1787,  was  coming  true,  that 
Connecticut  was  a  manufacturing  state.  Hitherto  manu- 
facturing had  been  on  a  small  scale,  and  had  been  confined 
mostly  to  household  weaving,  fulling  mills,  forges,  and  mak- 
ing various  articles  of  iron.  There  were  many  hand  looms 
in  the  homes,  and  a  product  of  seven  hundred  yards  of  cloth 
was  sometimes  made  by  a  family  in  a  year,  and  more  nails 
were  hammered  out  by  the  men  and  boys  than  they  could 
use,  but  acute  minds  and  busy  hands  were  at  work ;  the  iron 
works  at  Salisbury  were  thriving;  clocks,  watches,  shingle- 
nails,  paper,  and  pottery  were  among  the  manufactures 
started  in  Norwalk  between  1767-73,  and  in  Windham, 
hosiery,  silk,  and  tacks  were  manufactured.  President 
Stiles  of  Yale  was  interested  in  the  culture  of  silk,  and  his 
commencement  gown  in  1789,  was  of  Connecticut  make. 
The  legislature  encouraged  silk  industries  by  offering  a 
bounty  on  the  raising  of  mulberry  trees  and  for  raw  silk. 
Half  an  ounce  of  mulberry  seed  was  distributed  to  each 
parish.  The  Connecticut  Silk  Society  was  incorporated 
in  1785,  with  its  headquarters  at  New  Haven.  Its  object 
was  to  encourage  silk  culture  and  manufacture  throughout 
the  state.  Mansfield  was  the  center  of  this  business;  her 
inhabitants  in  1793,  received  a  bounty  on  two  hundred  and 
sixty-five  pounds  of  raw  silk.  Mansfield  had  several 
inventors :  one  of  them  made  a  buzz-saw  for  cutting  the  teeth 
of  horn  combs ;  another  a  screw  auger ;  while  steelyards  and 
spectacles  were  manufactured  there.  Eli  Terry  went  from 
South  Windsor  to  Northbury,  then  a  part  of  Watertown, 


The  Ruins  of  the  Forge  where  the  Anchor  of  the  "  Constitution  "  was  Cast 


The  Steamboat  of  John  Fitch  (1743  1798) 

Redrawn  from  an  Old  Print 


Conditions  at  Close  of  18tK  Centviry      315 

in  1793,  to  manufacture  clocks.  At  about  the  same  time, 
Dr.  Apollos  Kinsley  rode  through  the  streets  of  Hartford 
in  one  of  the  first  steam  carriages  ever  made,  a  pioneer 
automobile,  of  which  he  was  the  inventor.  In  1798,  Eli 
Whitney,  the  inventor  of  the  cotton-gin,  established  a 
manufactory  at  Hampden  to  complete  a  contract  with  the 
government  to  furnish  ten  thousand  stands  of  arms.  There 
were  starting  linen  and  button  factories  at  New  Haven; 
glass-works,  snuff-mills,  powder-mills,  iron-works,  and  a 
duck  factory  at  Hartford;  hollow  ironware  at  Stafford  in 
large  quantities;  tinware  in  Berlin  by  some  men  who  had 
learned  the  business  from  the  Pattison  brothers  before  the 
war;  buttons  in  quantities  at  Waterbury;  nails,  candles,  hats, 
boots,  and  shoes  through  the  state.  Daniel  Hinsdale  of 
Hartford  built  the  "  Hartford  Woolen  Manufactory  in  1788, 
near  the  foot  of  Mulberry  Street,  the  first  of  the  kind  in 
the  country,  for  making  broadcloth.  When  in  full  opera- 
tion it  produced  annually  over  five  thousand  yards  of  cloth, 
consisting  of  broadcloths,  coatings,  cassimeres,  serges,  and 
everlastings.  Washington  was  much  interested  in  the  enter- 
prise and  patronized  it,  and  at  the  first  presidential  inaugu- 
ration, he,  John  Adams,  and  the  Connecticut  delegation, 
were  clothed  in  Connecticut  broadcloth.  This  mill  made 
also  the  famous  pepper-and-salt  cloth,  and  in  1794,  Sam- 
uel Pitkin  &  Co.  began  to  manufacture  at  Manchester  vel- 
vets, corduroys,  and  fustians.  There  was  an  important 
invention  in  1784  by  Ebenezer  Chittenden,  who  at  New 
Haven  perfected  a  machine  for  bending  and  cutting  card 
teeth.  The  machine  was  worked  by  a  mandrel  twelve 
inches  in  length  and  one  inch  in  diameter,  and  was  run  by  a 
band  wheel  turned  by  a  crank.  It  required  six  independent 
parts  of  the  machine  to  make  a  complete  tooth ;  this  was 
accomplished  by  one  revolution  of  the  wheel.  This  machine 
had  such  a  remarkable  capacity  that  it  could  supply  all  the 
manufacturers  of  New  England. 

In  1 79 1,  the  state  passed  laws  for  the  encouragement  of 


3i6  A  History  of  Connecticut 

small  factories  that  the  necessities  of  war  had  sought,  though 
it  was  not  till  after  the  Hinsdale  act  of  1837,  creating  the 
joint-stock  companies,  that  Connecticut  turned  from  a 
purely  agricultural  to  the  manufacturing  state  we  are  so 
familiar  with  to-day. 

Exports  consisted  of  horses,  mules,  cattle,  salted  beef, 
pork,  and  fish,  lumber,  masts,  ashes,  grain,  butter,  cheese,  and 
leather.  There  were  five  ports  of  entry,  and  the  value  of 
exports  was  about  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars  annually. 
All  this  vigorous  and  inventive  growth  was  encouraged 
and  strengthened  by  the  democratic  government  flourishing 
in  the  different  towns.  This  account  of  the  activities  of 
Connecticut  in  many  lines  gives  a  suggestion  of  the  many 
energies  of  the  people  as  the  eighteenth  century  closed,  and 
of  the  rich  fruitage  of  philanthropy  and  industrial  growth 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  also  reminds  us  of  the 
prominent  part  the  state  has  played  in  the  life  of  the 
Republic. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 
FINANCE   AND   TAXATION 

NO  other  question  was  more  pressing  as  Connecticut 
passed  into  statehood  than  that  of  money,  for  the 
financial  strain  had  been  heavy,  the  currency  was  almost 
worthless,  the  banks  had  not  started,  and  on  every  side 
were  opportunities  for  which  capital  was  needed.  We 
shall  best  understand  the  situation  by  passing  in  review 
rapidly  the  whole  history  of  finance  and  taxation  from  the 
beginning.  In  earliest  times  there  was  little  money,  since 
the  settlers  brought  little,  and  much  of  their  scanty  funds 
went  back  to  buy  supplies.  There  were  ingenious  ways  of 
gaining  a  currency,  such  as  the  law,  passed  in  Massachusetts 
in  1654,  providing  "that  muskett  bullets  of  a  full  boare  shall 
pass  currently  for  a  farthing  apiece,  provided  that  noe  man 
be  compelled  to  take  above  12  pence  att  a  tyme  in  them," 
It  was  solid  money,  that  could  not  be  counterfeited,  and  use- 
ful for  Indian  or  wolf.  Wampum  soon  came  into  considerable 
use,  and  in  1637,  Massachusetts  ordered  that  this  product 
of  shells  and  flint  drills  should  pass  at  six  a  penny  for  any 
amount  under  twelvepence;  not  till  1661,  was  the  wam- 
pum legal-tender  law  repealed,  while  this  currency  was  in 
circulation  until  the  Revolution.  Corn,  including  maize, 
rye,  oats,  and  wheat,  pelts  of  otter,  beaver,  mink,  fox,  and 
bear  were  exchanged  at  the  stores  for  cloth,  rum,  sugar, 
spices,  and  molasses.  In  1642,  Indian  corn  was  made  legal 
tender,  and  from  1650,  the  standard  of  values  was  established 

317 


3i8  A.  History  of  Connectic\it 

year  by  year.  In  1652,  Massachusetts  formed  a  mint  to 
coin  bullion — shillings,  sixpences,  and  threepences,  with  a 
pine  tree  on  one  side  and  "New  England"  on  the  other. 
Those  pieces  were  alloyed  one-fourth  below  the  British 
standard,  so  that  the  pound  currency  of  New  England  came 
to  be  one-fourth  less  valuable  than  the  pound  sterling  of  the 
mother-country.  In  1737,  John  Higley,  an  ingenious  black- 
smith of  Salisbury,  coined  copper  cents,  whose  favorite  device 
was  a  deer  with  "the  value  of  three  pence"  on  one  side,  and 
on  the  other  three  hammers,  each  bearing  a  crown,  and  the 
inscription,  "I  am  a  good  copper."  Connecticut  coined 
more  coppers  than  any  other  colony  and  the  metal  in  them 
was  so  pure  that  it  was  eagerly  sought  by  goldsmiths. 
Abel  Buell  made  dies  for  several  colonies,  and  in  1785,  the 
legislature  authorized  a  mint  to  coin  cents. 

When  Madame  Knight  passed  through  the  colony  in  1704, 
she  found  four  kinds  of  currency;  pay  was  barter  at  prices 
decided  by  annual  vote;  money  was  wampum  or  metallic 
money;  pay  as  money  was  property  at  rates  decided  by  the 
parties;  trust  was  a  price  with  time  given.  Money  used 
in  larger  payments  was  mainly  Spanish  pieces,  worth  about 
a  dollar.  Currency  varied  so  much  in  kind  and  value,  and 
there  were  so  many  opportunities  for  the  unscrupulous,  that 
Yankee  wits  had  a  wide  field  in  which  to  train  for  later 
shrewdness.  Until  1709,  the  financial  basis  was  sound — the 
tax  rate  rising  or  lowering  as  necessity  required,  but  the 
limit  had  been  reached;  taxes  were  at  the  ruinous  tune  of 
seven  or  eightpence  a  pound,  and  the  scarcity  of  money, 
heavy  public  debts,  and  the  costly  intended  expedition  to 
Canada  led  the  Assembly  to  order  the  issue  of  eight  thou- 
sand pounds  in  paper  currency,  to  be  received  at  a  premium 
of  five  per  cent,  in  payment  of  taxes.  There  was  no  legal- 
tender  clause,  and  there  was  a  special  tax  of  tenpence  in  the 
pound  for  the  payment  in  two  annual  parts.  Further  levies 
called  for  the  issue  of  eleven  thousand  pounds  more  in  the 
same  year,  with  the  provision  for  a  tax  to  meet  it  in  six 


Finance  and  Taxation  319 

annual  payments.  From  that  time,  issues  followed  rapidly, 
and  with  them  there  was  an  earnest  endeavor  to  provide  for 
their  redemption  by  special  taxation.  In  17 18,  the  dreaded 
legal-tender  clause  came  timidly  in;  debtors  tendering  bills 
of  credit  were  not  to  be  imprisoned,  and  fresh  bills  of  credit 
appeared  with  their  homely  faces.  It  cost  money  to  send 
soldiers  to  Port  Royal,  Canada,  and  the  frontiers;  counter- 
feiting became  common  and  business  demoralized.  A 
company  of  fifty  men  in  New  London  organized  in  1732,  to 
promote  trade  and  commerce,  and  their  bills  were  hailed  with 
joy,  though  they  bore  no  promise  to  pay,  but  only  an  agree- 
ment that  the  society  would  receive  them.  Six  months 
later,  the  legislature  abolished  the  society,  and  the  bills 
disappeared.  In  1733,  the  colony  laid  aside  all  conservatism 
and  issued  thirty  thousand  pounds  in  paper,  dividing  the 
amount  into  equal  loans  among  the  five  counties;  debt 
increased,  commodities  rose  in  price,  as  did  silver  from  eight 
shillings  an  ounce  in  1708,  to  eighteen  in  1732,  and  thirty- 
two  in  1744.  Wages  lingered  behind  the  cost  of  everything 
the  laborer  ate  or  wore,  and  since  the  authorities  were  care- 
less in  keeping  their  accounts,  it  was  impossible  to  reach  a 
balance. 

The  best  that  can  be  made  out  of  the  figures  is  that  up 
to  1740,  one  hundred  and  fifty- six  thousand  pounds  had 
been  issued  in  paper,  and  all  but  about  six  thousand  had 
been  redeemed  by  taxation,  and  there  was  a  debt  of  about 
forty  thousand  pounds.  In  1739,  the  Assembly  took  meas- 
ures for  defense,  for  England  and  Spain  were  at  war  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  of  the  thousand  men  sent  by  the 
colony  only  one  hundred  returned.  A  new  issue  of 
forty-five  thousand  pounds  was  ordered,  eight  thousand  of 
which  was  used  to  redeem  earlier  issues,  known  as  old  tenor; 
twenty-three  thousand  was  to  be  loaned,  and  the  interest  was 
to  create  a  sinking  fund  to  liquidate  the  new  issue,  called 
new  tenor  Yielding  to  the  pressure  of  the  English  Board 
of  Trade  and  Plantations,  the  legal-tender  clause  was  abol- 


320  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

ished.  The  expedition  against  Louisburg  in  1744,  brought 
heavy  expense,  which  was  met  by  fresh  issues  of  "new 
tenor,"  raising  the  emissions  for  the  war  to  one  hundred 
and  thirty-one  thousand  pounds  on  the  valuation  of  the 
colony  of  less  than  a  million  pounds.  Soon  these  bills 
depreciated,  though  one  of  the  new  tenor  was  worth 
three  and  a  half  of  the  old  tenor.  In  1751,  ParHament 
forbade  the  issues  of  paper  currency,  except  for  taxes 
of  the  present  year,  or  to  be  secured  by  taxes  payable 
in  five  years;  and  by  buying  up  the  old  tenor  obligations  at 
eleven  per  cent,  of  their  face  value,  enforced  taxation,  and  a 
grant  from  Parliament,  Connecticut  liquidated  all  the  out- 
standing paper.  The  experience  made  the  people  shy  of 
paper  money  later  on,  though  in  the  French  and  Indian 
wars  just  before  the  Revolution  there  were  large  issues  of 
bills  of  credit,  which  seem  to  have  been  paid  at  maturity 
or  before,  not  shilling  for  shilling,  but  in  a  way  more  or  less 
just. 

In  the  pressing  need  of  money  as  the  Revolution  came  on, 
the  General  Assembly  voted  in  April,  1775,  fifty  thousand 
pounds  in  bills  of  credit  for  two  years  without  interest;  in 
May,  it  issued  fifty  thousand  for  three  years;  in  July,  fifty 
thousand  more  for  four  and  a  half  years,  and  three  taxes  were 
levied  of  sevenpence  in  a  pound  to  meet  this.  In  1776,  bills 
had  depreciated  so  much  that  they  were  refused,  and  a  few 
patriotic  men  went  forward  and  gave  silver  for  paper,  while 
Congress  passed  resolutions  stamping  those  who  refused  such 
bills  as  "lost  to  virtue  and  enemies  of  their  country."  In 
March,  1776,  commissioners  of  fifteen  towns  met  in  Hartford 
and  passed  anxious  resolutions  on  the  "late  alarming  rise  of 
West  India  goods,"  adopting  a  schedule  of  "reasonable 
prices. "  The  action  was  as  effective  as  a  child's  hand  to  stop 
a  tornado,  and  in  October,  1776,  the  legislature  made  Con- 
tinental and  Connecticut  bills  legal  tender;  ordering  that 
if  any  evil-minded  person  tried  to  depreciate  such  bills,  he 
should  forfeit  the  full  value  of  his  money  and  also  the  prop- 


1 


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.Inoc)  ,::3'  rCRTT  SHILLINGS.^  (Joor 

'77J0 _^     C40S]  I77£ 

t>.ggia£Tt%  '^-  '^  z '<■  v.  &,  v.  -a:  Ti:  v;trf^-"f  ^''^ 


roRl  Y  SHILLINGS, 

['!-•. "fill    Money  "•] 

NE'.V  LONDO'J  . 
PrincJ  by  T.  GREEN 
pO  '775-       (40s 


^•><> 


Continental  Currency.     Originals  in  Connecticut  State  Library 


Finance  and  Taxation  321 

erty  offered  for  sale.  In  November,  1776,  "in  this  day  of 
public  calamity  and  distress,"  a  law  was  passed  to  regulate 
prices,  with  pains  and  penalties  attached  to  the  violation 
of  it,  and  the  next  month  the  penalty  was  increased.  No 
bills  for  circulation  were  issued  that  year,  except  a  few  in 
small  denominations  to  help  in  making  change,  and  the 
people  were  forbidden  to  buy  or  sell,  except  in  small  quanti- 
ties, rum,  molasses,  sugar,  tea,  coffee,  salt,  shoes,  wool,  and 
much  else,  unless  the  dealer  was  known  as  a  "friend  of 
freedom,"  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  double  the  value  of 
the  goods.  Public  feeling  against  speculators  ran  high,  and 
Washington  paused  in  his  campaigns  to  brand  the  infamy  of 
such  traitors,  saying:  "It  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  each 
state  has  not  hunted  them  down  as  pests  of  society;  some 
of  the  more  atrocious  ought  to  be  hung  on  gibbets  five  times 
as  high  as  Haman's." 

The  juvenile  political  economy  went  on,  but  printing- 
press  currency  was  not  welcomed,  though  legislatures 
threatened  and  patriots  exhorted.  With  the  opening  of 
1778,  paper  money  was  worth  twenty-five  cents  on  a  dollar 
in  Philadelphia,  and  the  legislature  of  Connecticut  passed 
measures  to  regulate  the  price  of  every  important  article; 
importers  were  to  count  a  dollar  for  every  shilling  paid  in 
Europe;  retailers  were  to  make  only  twenty-five  per  cent, 
profit;  whoever  violated  these  laws  was  to  be  fined  forty 
shillings,  and  be  disqualified  from  holding  office  or  prosecut- 
ing a  suit  at  law.  No  one  could  "maintain  any  suit  until 
he  swore  by  the  everliving  God"  that  he  was  not  guilty  of 
such  violation.  This  was  soon  repealed  but  it  shows  the 
temper  of  the  time  and  the  scanty  knowledge  of  finance. 
More  sensible  was  the  action  of  the  same  session,  looking 
toward  taking  up  bills  and  canceling  them  by  use  of  loans, 
and  better  still  by  taxation.  It  was  also  enacted  that  none 
of  the  bills  of  the  state,  except  for  sums  under  a  dollar,  should 
be  current  in  trade  after  March  i,  1779;  the  state  issues  were 
called  in  and  exchanged  for  the  treasurer's  promissory  notes, 


322  A  History  of  Connecticut 

or  for  bills  of  the  United  States,  and  nothing  more  was  heard 
of  local  bills  after  1779.  Continental  money  kept  losing 
value,  for  Congress  issued  over  two  hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lars in  paper  money.  On  January  i,  1779,  it  stood  at  seven 
to  one ;  on  May  i ,  twenty-four  to  one ;  and  Congress  called 
on  the  states  to  pay  forty-five  million  dollars  before  January  i , 
1780,  on  which  date,  paper  and  silver  stood  at  a  ratio  of  forty 
to  one  in  Philadelphia.  Religion  and  patriotism  continued 
to  join  forces;  Congress  sent  appeals  to  be  read  in  the 
churches;  Connecticut  repealed  the  legal-tender  law  for  all 
kinds  of  money;  speculation  was  rife;  industries  checked; 
some  fortunes  were  made  and  more  lost.  After  six  inglor- 
ious years,  Continental  currency  died  in  1781;  on  the  first 
of  January  of  that  year,  one  hundred  dollars  in  Continental 
money  was  needed  to  buy  one  dollar  in  silver,  and  by  the 
end  of  May  paper  money  ceased  to  pass  at  all. 

After  the  Revolution,  chaos  reigned  in  business — cursed 
with  truck  and  barter,  with  their  variable  prices.  Money 
was  scarce,  except  the  fiat  variety,  which  encouraged  gam- 
bling. In  1792,  the  Assembly  chartered  the  Union  Bank  of 
New  London  and  the  Hartford  Bank.  Only  four  preceded 
these  in  America.  Hezekiah  Merrill,  cashier  of  the  Hartford 
Bank,  had  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars.  Banks  were 
soon  organized  in  New  Haven,  Middletown,  and  Norwich. 
Savings  banks  date  from  1819,  and  the  first  to  form  was  the 
Society  for  Savings  of  Hartford,  with  Daniel  Wadsworth 
president,  and  Elisha  Colt  treasurer.  The  bank  paid  five 
per  cent,  interest,  and  so  small  were  the  deposits  at  first  that 
the  treasurer  carried  the  money  of  the  bank  in  his  pocket  by 
day,  and  at  night  slept  with  it  under  his  pillow.  In  1820, 
a  savings  bank  was  opened  in  New  Haven,  and  soon  after- 
wards banks  were  organized  in  Norwich,  Middletown,  and 
New  London.  The  revision  of  the  laws  in  1796,  changed 
currency  from  pounds  and  shillings  to  dollars  and  cents,  and 
a  pound  at  that  time  was  worth  three  dollars  and  thirty- 
four  cents. 


Finance  and  Taxation  323 

The  first  principles  of  taxation  in  Connecticut  came  from 
the  mother  colony  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  backbone  of 
the  colonial  system  was  the  direct  tax.  The  first  mention  of 
land  as  the  basis  was  in  January  4,  1638,  in  Connecticut  and 
August  5,  1640,  in  New  Haven,  and  from  that  period  until 
18 1 8,  land  was  rated  according  to  the  "profitte  and  bene- 
fitts"  thence  arising.  By  the  code  of  1650,  from  which  date 
Connecticut  may  be  said  to  have  a  system  of  taxation,  all 
sorts  of  land  were  taxed  for  colony  and  town  expenses.  On 
October  23,  1676,  the  General  Assembly  ordered  that 
meadow  land  be  rated  from  twenty  to  sixty  shillings ;  house- 
lots  fifteen  to  fifty-five;  tilled  land  from  eight  to  twenty- 
five;  mowing  and  pasture  from  ten  to  twenty,  and  all  else 
at  a  shilling  per  acre.  In  1712,  a  simpler  classification  was 
adopted,  and  meadow  land  was  appraised  according  to  local- 
ity. A  tax  was  gradually  levied  on  all  property,  such  as 
houses,  mills,  wharves,  and  cattle;  there  was  a  poll  tax 
after  English  and  Massachusetts  fashion;  according  to  the 
code  of  1650,  every  male  upwards  of  sixteen  paid  a  poll  tax 
of  two  shillings  and  sixpence;  after  1737,  males  between 
sixteen  and  sixty  paid  a  poll  tax  equivalent  to  the  tax  on 
an  estate  of  eight  pounds,  with  the  exception  of  ministers, 
teachers  at  Yale,  persons  in  favored  occupations  and  those 
infirm.  Trades  and  incomes  were  taxed  according  to  a 
man's  earning  ability,  and  there  were  licenses  and  taxes  on 
products,  imports,  and  exports,  with  fines,  fees  on  the  sale 
of  lands  and  lotteries.  In  1638,  a  tax  was  laid  on  the  beaver 
trade;  in  1645,  it  was  voted  to  lay  a  tax  of  twopence  a  bushel 
on  corn  and  meal  exported,  and  twopence  a  hogshead  on 
beaver.  There  was  a  tax  of  twelvepence  on  every  milch 
cow  or  mare,  and  twelvepence  on  every  hog  killed.  Pre- 
vious to  1 77 1,  the  rates  at  which  trades  were  decided  de- 
pended on  the  judgment  of  the  assessors,  but  from  that  time 
retail  dealers  paid  a  tax  on  ten  per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  their 
stock,  and  wholesale  traders  and  tavern-keepers  according 
,':o  income.     Carriages  with  tops  were  rated  at  five  pounds, 


324  A.  History  of  ConnecticMt 

and  three  pounds  if  without;  houses,  according  to  number  of 
stories  and  fireplaces. 

According  to  the  code  of  1650,  the  colonial  treasurer  sent 
warrants  to  constables  and  selectmen,  calling  on  them  to 
assemble  the  people  and  choose  three  or  four  men  to  be  listers ; 
one  of  these  should  be  a  commissioner  to  meet  the  others  at 
Hartford,  correct  and  equalize  the  lists,  and  report  to  the 
General  Court.  In  1666,  the  power  of  the  commissioners  was 
transferred  to  the  deputies,  and  in  1692,  deputies  were 
relieved  by  special  officers — one  for  every  town.  In  1703, 
the  duties  of  inspectors  were  merged  in  those  of  listers.  In 
1689,  the  principle  of  will  and  doom  was  adopted,  and  who- 
ever failed  to  hand  in  a  list  of  his  property  was  assessed  by 
the  listers;  this  also  applied  to  towns.  In  1703,  it  was  voted 
that  listers  should  put  a  fourfold  rate  upon  those  neglecting 
to  return  a  list,  and  the  constable  was  permitted  to  resort 
to  methods  of  "distress"  in  collecting  taxes, — such  as  seizure 
of  goods  and  cattle,  and  even  imprisonment.  After  the 
constable's  term  of  office  expired,  he  had  power  to  distress 
delinquents  for  arrears,  and  if  he  died  in  office,  his  adminis- 
trator could  force  payment ;  if  the  constable  failed  to  secure 
the  taxes,  his  property  was  levied  upon  by  the  treasurer,  who 
in  turn  was  responsible  for  deficiencies,  or  the  sheriff  levied 
execution  on  the  property  of  the  selectmen.  In  1714,  it  was 
ordered  that  when  a  constable  was  insolvent,  the  sheriff  was 
to  collect  the  amount  from  the  selectmen,  who  were  to  levy 
on  the  town  for  it.  An  abatement  was  made  for  the  poor, 
and  in  1757,  it  was  ordered  to  discount  on  taxes  paid  in  ad- 
vance for  the  French  and  Indian  war.  Ten  years  later,  it 
was  voted  to  charge  interest  on  taxes  overdue. 

While  open  to  many  defects,  the  income-tax  system  which 
prevailed  until  1818,  was  simple,  and  free  from  many  of  the  dif- 
ficulties of  the  present  laws ;  the  best  meadow  land  came  to  be 
assessed  at  two  dollars  and  a  half  an  acre,  ploughed  land  a 
dollar  and  sixty-seven  cents,  pasture  a  dollar  and  thirty- 
four  cents,  woods  thirty-four  cents,  and    all  equalization 


Finance  and  Taxation  325 

was  made  by  the  legislature.  With  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution the  whole  subject  of  taxation  was  taken  up  afresh, 
and  a  far  more  complicated  state  of  things  presented  itself 
than  before,  as  the  state  passed  from  the  agricultural  to  the 
industrial  condition.  In  his  message  in  18 19,  Governor 
Oliver  Wolcott  speaks  of  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  justice 
under  the  older  system ;  the  inequality  of  the  value  of  lands 
in  different  parts  of  the  state  was  not  sufficiently  recognized ; 
over  three  hundred  thousand  acres  out  of  the  2,293,083 
was  not  reported  at  all,  and  the  agricultural  family  con- 
tributed about  seventy-seven  per  cent,  above  its  propor- 
tion as  compared  with  families  supported  by  labor  and  other 
employments.  It  was  decided  to  change  the  whole  sys- 
tem and  list  real  estate  at  three  per  cent,  of  its  real  value 
and  personal  property  at  six  per  cent.  This  continued  until 
1850,  when  it  was  voted  to  list  all  property  on  a  basis  of 
three  per  cent.,  and  every  kind  of  property  not  specially 
exempted  was  to  be  taxed,  moreover  no  tax  was  to  be  levied 
on  persons  except  polls;  for  the  first  time  taxpayers  were 
required  to  return  lists  under  oath.  It  was  soon  found  that 
people  with  property  that  could  not  be  seen  were  not  apt  to 
report  it,  and  such  possessions  formed  only  four  per  cent,  of 
the  grand  list.  Various  methods  have  been  tried  nearly  a 
century  to  overcome  dishonesty;  at  one  time  there  was  a 
reward  for  the  assessors  if  they  found  concealed  property; 
they  were  to  add  fourfold  to  the  appraisal,  with  one-half 
of  the  addition  for  their  own  pockets,  but  this  was  a  failure. 
In  i860,  it  was  voted  that  the  property  of  those  failing  to 
return  a  list  was  to  be  listed  at  its  "present,  full,  fair,  and 
just  value,"  and  assessors  were  to  add  any  taxable  property 
omitted.  In  1865,  the  present  law  was  passed,  directing 
assessors  to  add  ten  per  cent,  to  a  man's  taxable  property 
in  case  he  did  not  fill  out  a  list. 

To  discover  remedies  for  the  inequalities  a  commission 
was  created  in  1843,  to  investigate  the  whole  subject  of 
taxation  in  its  effect  upon  property  owners,  and  its  report 


326  i\  History  of  Connecticvit 

was  not  adopted.  In  1867,  since  other  evils  had  arisen  in 
addition  to  those  of  the  earHer  time,  another  commission 
was  appointed,  which  advised  changes  unacceptable  to  the 
legislature,  and  in  1884,  a  tax  commission  was  created  which 
made  a  report  in  January,  1887,  submitting  several  bills, 
nearly  all  of  which  have  been  adopted  with  few  changes. 
One  of  these  is  the  inheritance  tax,  which  was  made  a  law  in 
1889,  levying  five  per  cent,  on  all  property  above  one  thou- 
sand dollars  to  collateral  heirs.  In  1897,  it  was  voted  to 
exempt  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  the  tax  was  of  one-half 
of  one  per  cent,  to  lineals  and  three  per  cent,  to  collaterals. 
By  the  statutes  of  1913,  it  is  provided  that  all  property  pass- 
ing in  trust  for  any  charitable  purpose  within  the  state  or 
gifts  to  institutions  for  public  benefit  are  exempt  from 
inheritance  tax,  and  that  the  state  shall  receive  one  per 
cent,  of  the  value  of  all  property  in  excess  of  five  thou- 
sand dollars,  passing  to  parent,  husband,  wife,  child, 
any  other  legally  adopted  child  or  other  lineal  descend- 
ant of  the  decedent,  up  to  one  hundred  thousand  dollars; 
two  per  cent,  on  any  amount  from  one  hundred  thou- 
sand to  two  hundred  thousand  dollars;  three  per  cent, 
for  any  amount  above  three  hundred  thousand  dollars; 
one  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  all  property  in  excess  of  three 
thousand  dollars  passing  to  the  wife  or  widow  of  a  son, 
the  husband  of  a  daughter,  and  to  a  brother  or  sister  of  the 
full  or  half  blood  of  the  decedent,  up  to  the  amount  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars;  three  per  cent,  of  any  amount 
above  one  hundred  thousand  dollars;  five  per  cent,  of  the 
value  of  all  property  in  excess  of  five  hundred  dollars  to  all 
others,  or  to  any  society,  not  exempted  as  above,  up  to  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  six  per  cent,  of  any  amount 
above  that. 

The  first  state  tax  on  express  companies  was  imposed  in 
1864,  and  the  rate  was  one  per  cent,  on  the  gross  receipts 
taken  within  the  state.  The  following  year  it  was  raised  to 
two  per  cent.;  in  1889,  the  basis  was  changed  to  gross  re- 


Finance  and  Taxation  327 

ceipts  from  commerce  entirely  within  the  state,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  rate  was  raised  to  five  per  cent.  The  first 
law  to  tax  telephone  companies  was  enacted  in  1882,  and  it 
taxed  the  companies  two  per  cent,  on  their  gross  receipts 
collected  within  the  state.  In  1889,  the  system  was  changed 
to  a  tax  of  seventy  cents  on  the  transmitters  and  twenty-five 
cents  on  mileage.  The  first  tax  on  telegraph  companies  was 
passed  in  1862 — a  tax  of  three-quarters  of  one  per  cent,  on  all 
property  owned  by  the  companies;  in  1864,  it  was  changed 
to  a  tax  of  one  cent  on  every  message  sent  from  an  office  in  the 
state,  and  the  next  year  that  was  replaced  by  a  tax  of  two 
per  cent,  on  the  gross  receipts  within  the  state.  By  the 
statutes  of  191 3,  every  express  company  conducting  business 
on  steam  or  electric  railroads  or  street  railways,  every 
company  conducting  a  telegraph,  cable,  or  telephone  busi- 
ness, every  dining,  sleeping,  chair,  or  parlor  car  company, 
every  refrigerator,  oil,  stock,  fruit,  and  other  car  company 
operating  upon  the  railroads  shall  pay  an  annual  tax  upon 
the  gross  earnings  of  lines,  routes,  cars,  and  exchanges  oper- 
ated within  the  state.  The  rate  of  the  tax  on  the  gross 
earnings  is  as  follows:  express  companies,  two  per  cent. ;  tele- 
graph, cable,  and  car  companies,  three  per  cent.;  telephone 
companies,  four  per  cent. 

The  method  of  taxing  railroads  is  the  stock  and  bond 
plan,  the  basis  being  the  sum  of  the  market  value  of  the 
stock  and  of  funded  and  floating  indebtedness.  The  rate, 
according  to  the  statutes  of  19 13,  was  raised  from  one  per 
cent,  to  eleven  mills  for  two  years.  The  law  began  with  the 
act  of  1849,  which  provided  that  upon  all  shares  of  stock 
owned  by  persons  outside  the  state  there  should  be  a  tax  of 
one-half  of  one  per  cent.  The  tax  on  banks,  trust  companies, 
and  stock  insurance  companies  is  one  per  cent,  on  the  market 
value  of  all  stocks,  less  taxes  paid  on  real  estate,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds are  paid  to  the  towns  in  which  the  stockholders  live. 
The  mutual  insurance  companies  pay  a  tax  of  one-fourth  of 
one  per  cent,  on  the  gross  value  of  the  assets,  less  the  amount 


328  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

of  local  taxes  on  real  estate.  The  first  state  tax  on  these 
companies  was  levied  in  1851 ;  being  one-third  of  one  per 
cent,  on  the  "total  cash  capital,"  and  the  law  has  passed 
through  many  changes  to  its  present  form.  Savings  banks 
and  savings  departments  of  banks  and  trust  companies  are 
taxed  one-fourth  of  one  per  cent,  upon  their  deposits,  after 
deducting  the  market  value  of  certain  bonds,  and  a  lump 
sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  each  bank.  This  law 
is  the  culmination  of  a  course  of  taxation  which  began 
in  1 85 1,  with  a  tax  of  one-eighth  of  one  per  cent,  on 
deposits.  Building  and  loan  associations  are  not  taxed  by 
the  state. 

On  October  10,  1910,  there  went  into  effect  the  so-called 
personal  tax  law,  which  requires  all  male  persons  in  the 
state  from  twenty-one  to  sixty  years  old  to  pay  two  dollars 
a  year.  This  takes  the  place  of  the  poll  and  military  taxes, 
and  is  levied  on  aliens  as  well  as  voters,  with  the  exception 
of  students  in  colleges  and  incorporated  academies,  active 
members  of  fire  engine,  hook  and  ladder  and  hose  companies 
during  active  service;  members  of  any  fire  department  of 
city,  town,  or  borough,  who  have  served  for  five  consecutive 
years  within  the  state ;  officers  who  have  performed  military 
duty  during  the  year  preceding,  and  persons  who  have 
served  five  years  in  the  active  militia  since  Jul}'-,  1865,  or 
served  in  army  or  navy  of  the  United  States  and  were 
honorably  discharged. 

The  grand  list  of  the  state  for  1912,  was  11,102,990,545. 
The  average  assessed  valuation  of  the  towns  varies  from 
fifty-five  to  one  hundred  per  cent,  of  what  is  considered  fair 
market  value,  and  the  rate  of  taxation  in  the  different  towns 
varies  from  five  mills  to  twenty-five  mills.  In  thirty-one 
towns  the  rate  is  ten  mills  or  less.  In  1901,  it  was  voted  to 
appoint  a  tax  commissioner  every  four  years,  to  be  nomi- 
nated by  the  governor  and  confirmed  by  the  senate.  He 
visits  the  towns,  investigates  the  conditions  of  listing,  exer- 
cises an  advisory  supervision,  helps  to  secure  uniformity  in 


rirxance  and  Taxation  329 

the  local  boards,  and  makes  suggestions  concerning  methods 
to  improve  the  system  of  taxation  through  the  state. 

The  Connecticut  system  of  taxation  is  decidedly  liberal, 
since  there  is  absolute  freedom  from  constitutional  limita- 
tions; separation  of  state  and  local  revenue;  different  rates 
of  taxation  for  intangible  personal  property;  exemption  of 
bonds  of  railroads  paying  taxes  in  the  state;  exemption  of 
real  estate  m.ortgages  and  farm  produce  actually  grown  in 
the  season  next  preceding  the  time  of  listing;  the  avoidance 
of  double  taxation  so  far  as  possible,  and  the  taxation  of  all 
property  at  its  fair  market  value.  The  word  "tax"  does  not 
occur  in  the  constitution,  neither  are  there  any  constitutional 
provisions  relative  to  the  subject.  All  the  regulations  are 
statutes,  and  any  or  all  of  them  may  be  changed  or  stricken 
out  by  any  legislature. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
THE  SECOND   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE 

IT  was  generally  supposed  in  America  that  after  Cornwallis 
had  surrendered  and  the  treaty  was  signed,  there  would  be 
no  more  serious  trouble  with  the  mother-country,  but  it  was 
soon  found  that  this  country  must  wage  a  second  war  with 
England,  or  cease  from  self-respect;  and  the  humiliation  of 
the  war  was  that  it  was  delayed  so  long,  and  conducted  so 
languidly.  For  six  years,  the  United  States  had  borne  the 
injurious  treatment  of  England  and  France,  and  their  claims 
of  the  right  to  search  her  ships,  impress  her  seamen,  harass 
her  commerce  and  blockade  her  coasts,  until  it  could  be 
tolerated  no  longer.  Six  thousand  seamen  had  been  taken 
from  her  ships,  and  the  time  had  come  when  something  must 
be  done  to  put  a  stop  to  foreign  insolence  and  tyranny. 
The  census  of  1810,  had  shown  that  the  population  of  the 
United  States  was  a  little  over  seven  millions,  while  the 
population  of  the  United  Kingdom  was  eighteen  and  a  half 
millions,  but  England  was  at  war  with  Napoleon.  Madison's 
declaration  of  war  on  June  19,  1812,  found  the  country  unpre- 
pared with  an  adequate  army  and  navy.  There  was  a  regu- 
lar army  of  less  than  seven  thousand  men,  without  discipline 
or  proper  equipment.  Amos  Kendall  thus  describes  some 
soldiers  he  saw  in  18 14:  "About  three  hundred  militia 
...  on  their  way  to  Erie.  They  were  without  order,  and 
apparently  without  officers — mean,  dirty,  ugly,  and  in  every 
respect  contemptible.  .  .  .  The  soldiers  are  under  no  more 

330 


XKe   Second   "War  for  Independence       331 

restraint  than  a  herd  of  swine."  The  officers  were  elderly- 
men,  some  of  them  of  Revolutionary  experience,  of  whom 
General  Winfield  Scott  said  they  were  indifferent  or  posi- 
tively bad,  sunk  in  sloth  and  indolence,  many  of  them  being 
ruined  by  intemperate  drinking. 

Arms,  ammunition,  clothing,  stores,  fortifications,  were 
scanty  and  poor ;  so  wretched  were  the  roads  that  it  cost  sixty 
dollars  to  get  a  barrel  of  flour  from  New  York  to  Detroit, 
and  fifty  cents  to  transport  every  pound  of  shot,  powder,  and 
cannon-balls,  for  the  avenues  led  through  forest  trails, 
through  pest-breeding  swamps,  over  rivers  swollen  by  fre- 
quent rains,  and  through  regions  infested  by  hostile  Indians. 
Moreover  the  treasury  was  almost  empty,  for,  as  Randolph 
declared,  the  country  had  been  "embargoed  and  non-inter- 
coursed  almost  into  a  consumption."  Dearborn,  who 
became  senior  major-general,  had  been  a  deputy  quarter- 
master-general in  the  Revolution,  later  a  colonel  of  a  New 
Hampshire  regiment,  and  Secretary  of  War  under  Jefferson, 
and  he  left  the  collectorship  of  the  port  of  Boston  at  the  age 
of  sixty-one  to  take  command  of  the  army.  It  was  the  mis- 
fortune of  General  William  Hull,  a  native  of  Derby,  governor 
of  Michigan  Territory,  to  become  one  of  the  four  brigadier- 
generals  appointed  by  President  Madison,  and  he  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  northwestern  army.  Hull  had 
served  in  the  Revolution  thirty  years  before,  and  was  at  the 
time  of  his  appointment  sixty  years  old.  He  started  from 
Washington  to  take  command  of  the  troops  at  Dayton  with 
no  clear  instructions  what  to  do.  The  British  commander 
was  Major-General  Isaac  Brock,  lieutenant-governor  of 
Upper  Canada,  and  a  man  of  remarkable  energy,  courage,  and 
resources.  Though  Hull  knew  that  the  British  were  in 
control  of  Lake  Erie,  he  sent  off  his  baggage,  hospital  stores, 
intrenching  tools,  and  muster-rolls  from  the  Maumee  River 
to  Detroit.  The  capture  of  this  vessel  by  the  British  showed 
the  purposes  of  the  Americans,  and  Brock  wrote  to  Prevost, 
"I  had  no  idea  until  a  few  days  ago,  that  General  Hull  was 


332  A  History  of  Connecticiat 

advancing  with  so  large  a  force, "  and  he  marshaled  at  once 
his  little  army. 

Hidl  reached  Detroit  early  in  July,  and  under  orders  from 
Washington,  crossed  the  river  to  attack  Maiden,  issued  a 
proclamation  to  Canada  and  then  waited  until  Brock  had 
reinforced  his  army  with  Indians,  when,  overcome  with  fears, 
he  retreated  in  weakness  and  fear  to  Detroit;  Brock  fol- 
lowed him,  though  with  a  smaller  force.  In  that  time  of 
despondency,  the  colonels  of  the  regiments  offered  to  make 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Miller  of  the  regulars  commander  in 
the  place  of  Hull,  but  he  declined.  After  two  days  at  De- 
troit, Brock  decided  to  move  against  the  fort,  and  on  August 
15,  he  summoned  Hull  to  surrender,  threatening  if  he 
refused,  to  let  the  Indians  loose  on  the  whole  territory  far 
and  wide  to  butcher  the  people.  For  the  moment  Hull 
refused  to  surrender,  but  when  the  British  advanced  to 
attack  the  fort  with  artillery,  infantry,  Indians  and  two 
vessels,  he  sent  out  a  white  flag  and  a  force  of  about  twenty- 
five  hundred  men.  The  fort  and  Detroit  passed  into  the  hands 
of  a  determined  general  with  an  army  of  three  hundred  and 
thirty  regulars,  four  himdred  militia,  and  about  six  himdred 
Indians.  Hull  tried  to  justify  his  course  by  claiming  that 
his  troops  were  on  short  rations,  that  he  could  not  pos- 
sibly have  held  the  place  until  rescue  came,  and  that  he 
preferred  to  sacrifice  his  own  reputation  than  expose  the 
territory  to  the  ravages  of  the  Indians.  In  the  scorn  and 
vituperation  that  have  been  heaped  upon  Hull,  there  has 
been  little  consideration  of  his  inefficient  superior,  Dearborn, 
the  rawness  of  the  American  troops,  and  the  military  inex- 
perience of  this  elderly  man.  A  year  and  a  half  later  he  was 
tried  by  court-martial  on  charges  of  treason,  cowardice,  and 
neglect  of  duty,  and  sentenced  to  be  shot  on  the  last  two 
charges.  The  court  recommended  him  to  the  mercy  of 
the  president,  who  approved  the  verdict,  but  remitted  the 
execution  of  it,  on  account  of  the  former  services  of  Hull  in 
the  Revolution. 


XKe    Second   AA^ar  for  Independence       333 

Three  days  after  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  Isaac  Hull, 
also  born  in  Derby,  and  a  nephew  of  the  unfortunate  general, 
while  commanding  the  Constitution,  fought  the  Guerriere 
off  Nova  Scotia  and  in  half  an  hour  the  British  ship  was 
lying  "a  helpless  hulk  in  the  trough  of  heavy  sea,  rolling 
the  muzzles  of  her  guns  under,"  showing  the  emptiness  of 
the  English  taunt  at  an  enemy  whose  navy  was  a  ''few  fir- 
built  frigates,  manned  by  a  handful  of  bastards  and  outlaws. " 
Another  Connecticut  man  who  was  of  decided  service  in  the 
defense  of  the  states  upon  the  lakes  was  Captain  Isaac 
Chauncey,  who  had  spent  his  early  life  in  the  merchant 
service. 

By  vote  of  the  legislature,  a  state  corps  was  organized 
under  the  command  of  General  Nathanael  Terry,  and  a  state 
militia  of  fifteen  thousand  men  was  equipped  to  resist  inva- 
sion. In  the  spring  of  18 13,  a  British  fleet  passed  through 
the  Sound  and  established  a  blockade.  The  militia  met  at 
New  London,  and  Decatur  was  bottled  up  in  the  Thames 
River.  In  April,  18 14,  a  body  of  British  sailors  and  marines 
landed  at  a  point  six  miles  above  Saybrook  and  destroyed 
some  shipping.  The  citizens  of  Stonington  were  in  constant 
alarm,  and  on  August  9,  18 14,  Sir  Thomas  Hardy  entered  the 
harbor  with  four  warships  and  several  barges  and  launches; 
anchoring  within  two  miles  of  the  town  he  told  the  people 
that  he  proposed  to  destroy  it,  giving  them  one  hour 
to  remove  the  women  and  children.  Horrified  yet  un- 
daunted, preparations  were  made  to  give  battle  to  the  enemy, 
and  the  bombardment  began  at  eight  in  the  evening.  Shells 
and  rockets  fell  upon  the  village,  and  began  to  set  fire  to  the 
buildings:  the  Stonington  volunteers  took  possession  of  the 
peninsula;  erecting  a  redoubt,  they  put  in  position  a  six  and 
an  eighteen  pounder,  and  began  to  hurl  solid  balls,  sinking 
one  of  the  barges,  and  compelling  the  retreat  of  the  bomb- 
ship  with  her  consorts.  At  sunrise  August  10,  the  bombard- 
ment began  afresh,  and  Captain  Jeremiah  Holmes,  a  good 
gunner  from  Mystic,  handled  the  eighteen-pounder  with  such 


334  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

effect  that  the  brig  Dispatch  was  forced  to  cut  her  cables  to 
avoid  sinking.  At  that  juncture  the  ammunition  on  shore 
gave  out.  Some  of  the  timid  citizens  advocated  surrender, 
but  Captain  Holmes  shouted  "  No ! "  Pointing  to  the  ensign, 
he  said,  "That  flag  shall  never  come  down  while  I  am  alive. " 
He  nailed  it  to  the  staff.  Soon  a  supply  of  ammimition  came 
from  New  London,  and  the  British  were  kept  at  bay  until 
the  arrival  of  General  Isham  with  a  force  of  militia,  relieving 
the  strain.  On  March  ii,  1815,  the  British  fleet  left  Long 
Island  Sound,  having  maintained  a  blockade  for  over  two 
years. 

Prominent  among  those  who  brought  on  the  war  was 
Peter  B.  Porter,  who  was  born  in  Salisbury,  went  to  Congress 
from  Buffalo,  and  after  hostilities  began,  resigned  his  seat 
to  lead  a  body  of  Iroquois  Indians ;  later  serving  with  dis- 
tinction at  Chippewa,  Lundy's  Lane,  and  Lake  Erie.  In 
1815,  he  was  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
but  declined.  General  Porter  received  a  gold  medal  from 
Congress  and  a  sword  from  the  New  York  legislature. 
There  were  more  than  eleven  thousand  officers  and  privates 
from  Connecticut  who  took  part  in  this  war. 

There  was  a  singular  development  of  the  times  which 
must  be  described,  though  no  one  is  proud  of  it  now — 
the  Hartford  Convention.  There  was  a  growing  dissatis- 
faction in  New  England  with  Madison's  administration,  in 
carrying  on  the  war ;  some  of  the  governors  of  New  England 
refused  to  order  out  the  militia  on  receipt  of  the  president's 
proclamation  asking  for  troops;  the  government  declined 
to  pay  the  soldiers  when  called  out,  basing  its  refusal  on 
the  ground  that  the  forces  had  not  been  placed  under  the 
command  of  the  United  States  general  in  charge  of  that 
department.  This  feeling  of  enmity  to  the  government  was 
strengthened  by  differences  between  the  people  of  New 
England  and  those  of  the  South,  on  the  question  of  slave 
representation  in  Congress.  The  administration  was  largely 
controlled  by  Southern  influence,  and  since  New  England 


THe    Second   War  for  Independence       335 

was  the  manufacturing  center  of  the  country,  the  embargo 
of  ^07,  bore  heavily  upon  her  business  interests.  In  laying 
this  embargo,  President  Jefferson  was  moved  by  the  highest 
motives.  It  was  a  retaliation  directed  against  the  aggres- 
sions of  France  and  England.  The  president  recommended, 
and  Congress  directed,  that  there  should  be  an  embargo 
upon  all  American  vessels,  and  upon  all  foreign  vessels  with 
cargoes  shipped  from  our  ports  after  December  22,  1807. 
Commerce  was  to  be  abandoned,  owing  to  the  idea  that 
foreign  nations  would  suffer  from  loss  of  American  supplies. 
But  the  embargo  failed,  being  irritating  to  the  citizens, 
paralyzing  many  lines  of  business,  and  provoking  foreigners 
to  laughter  or  to  severe  measures.  Napoleon  ordered  the 
confiscation  of  all  American  vessels  in  French  ports,  April 
17,  1808;  Great  Britain  prohibited  the  exportation  of  Ameri- 
can produce  December  21,  1808.  After  the  embargo  was 
repealed  in  1809,  non-intercourse  acts  followed,  with  a  con- 
tinuance of  business  ruin  and  widespread  discontent,  es- 
pecially in  New  England.  Town  meetings,  state  legislatures, 
and  even  courts  declared  against  the  constitutionality  of 
the  embargo  measures.  The  language  used  by  federalists  of 
Massachusetts  suggested  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  Even 
the  Indians  on  the  frontiers  added  to  the  strain,  because  the 
exclusion  of  their  furs  from  the  continental  markets  reduced 
them  to  poverty,  and  British  interference  stirred  them  to 
hostility.  It  was  a  time  of  bitterness  and  want  wherever 
people  depended  for  their  living  on  commerce.  Ship- 
wrights were  idle;  pitch,  tar,  hemp,  flour,  bacon,  salt  fish, 
and  flaxseed  became  drugs  on  shippers'  hands.  One  writer 
said,  "The  act  ought  to  be  called  the  'Dambargo'."  In 
some  places  smuggling  was  resorted  to. 

On  January  6,  1809,  Congress  passed  the  Force  Act  which 
made  it  a  high  misdemeanor  to  carry  specie  or  goods  out  of 
the  United  States.  It  authorized  the  president  to  use  the 
army  to  enforce  the  act  on  land,  and  equip  thirty  vessels  to 
enforce  the  law  on  the  coast.     When  Governor  Trumbull  was 


336  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

asked  for  the  use  of  the  militia,  he  flatly  refused  to  obey. 
He  wrote  that  he  knew  of  no  authority  for  complying  with 
the  order  of  General  Dearborn  who  had  served  a  notice 
under  the  orders  of  President  Jefferson.  He  promptly 
assembled  the  legislature,  and  told  it  that  when  the  National 
Legislature  oversteps  the  bounds  prescribed  by  the  Con- 
stitution, it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  states  to  interpose  and 
protect  the  rights  of  the  people  from  the  assumed  powers  of 
Congress.  His  refusal  to  afford  military  aid  was  severely 
felt,  for  it  was  apparent  that  if  the  embargo  was  to  be  en- 
forced, it  must  be  with  the  sword. 

In  that  time  of  agitation  there  was  much  suffering  and 
hardship,  because  of  the  immense  fines  and  forfeitures  to 
compel  obedience.  Heavy  bonds  were  exacted;  collectors 
were  opposed  almost  as  resolutely  as  were  those  before  the 
Revolution.  Some  were  sued  in  the  state  courts,  some 
resigned.  The  courts  could  find  no  case  against  the  smug- 
glers. At  last,  the  New  England  states  openly  threatened 
nullification.  With  the  going  out  of  the  Jefferson  adminis- 
tration there  was  a  repeal  of  the  embargo;  the  shipping  in- 
terests began  to  quicken;  merchandise  was  hurried  forward. 
Disappointments  soon  followed,  when  the  negotiations  of  the 
British  ministers  at  Washington  were  repudiated  by  the 
British  government,  and  Congress  reimposed  the  embargo 
in  the  shape  of  a  "non-interference  act. "  The  Federalists  of 
Connecticut  had  welcomed  the  renewal  of  trade  with  England, 
and  when  the  sudden  reversal  came,  they  accused  the  govern- 
ment at  Washington  of  insincerity  and  unwillingness  to 
settle  the  difficulties  between  the  two  nations. 

All  this  dissatisfaction  with  the  Embargo,  the  method  of 
conducting  the  war,  and  jealousy  between  the  North  and  the 
South  found  expression  in  the  so-called  Hartford  Convention, 
which  assembled  in  the  city  hall  on  December  15,  18 14. 
There  were  twelve  delegates  from  Massachusetts,  seven 
from  Connecticut,  three  from  Rhode  Island,  two  from  New 
Hampshire,  and  on  December  28,  Vermont  sent  a  delegate. 


TKe    Second   "War  for  Independence       337 

A  permanent  organization  was  effected,  with  the  choice  of 
George  Cabot  of  Boston  as  president,  and  Theodore  Dwight 
of  Hartford  as  secretary.  The  members  were  as  a  rule  men 
of  abihty,  learning,  and  high  standing,  and  they  were  in 
session  within  closed  doors  for  twenty  days.  There  were 
wild  rumors  of  treasonable  proceedings,  and  the  excitement 
was  increased  by  the  fact  that  the  Massachusetts  legislature 
appropriated  a  million  dollars  toward  the  equipment  of  ten 
thousand  men  to  be  under  the  state  control.  Disturbed  by 
reports,  Congress  ordered  a  regiment  of  soldiers  to  assemble 
at  Hartford  to  watch  the  conclave,  but  military  demon- 
strations were  limited  to  a  squad  of  idlers  marching  around 
the  hall,  with  fifers  playing  the  Rogue's  March.  Later,  the 
convention  was  considered  a  treasonable  gathering  and  every 
man  who  took  part  in  it  became  a  political  outcast.  General 
Jackson  said  that  if  he  had  commanded  the  military  depart- 
ment where  the  convention  met,  he  would  have  punished 
the  three  principal  leaders.  The  lengthy  report  contained 
resolutions,  advising  the  states  to  exclude  slaves  from  the 
basis  of  representation,  to  prohibit  Congress  from  lay- 
ing an  embargo  for  more  than  sixty  days,  to  interdict  inter- 
course with  foreign  nations  without  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
both  houses,  to  require  a  two-thirds  vote  to  declare  war, 
to  make  the  president  eligible  for  only  one  term,  to  forbid 
electing  presidents  for  two  successive  terms  from  the  same 
state,  and  to  adopt  measures  to  prevent  the  action  of  enlist- 
ment laws  of  the  United  States. 

These  seditious  indications  in  New  England  depressed  the 
administration,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  present 
the  resolutions  of  the  Hartford  gathering  in  Congress  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  constitutional  amendments.  Early  in 
February  this  committee  was  in  Washington  to  negotiate 
with  the  government,  but  Jackson's  victory  in  January  at 
New  Orleans,  together  with  good  news  from  the  negotiations 
at  Ghent,  made  all  who  took  part  in  the  Hartford  Convention 
a  laughing-stock.     The  overthrow  of  the  Federalist  plans 


33^  ^  History  of  Connecticut 

to  coerce  the  National  Government  was  so  complete  that  no 
man  who  was  connected  with  the  movement  ever  recovered 
his  standing  in  political  life.  The  signing  of  the  treaty  with 
England  after  eight  years  of  commercial  depression  and 
widespread  hardship,  together  with  the  fact  that  American 
seamen  had  been  a  match  for  the  sea-dogs  of  England, 
ushered  in  a  new  and  powerful  era  of  prosperity  and  political 
freedom. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  1818 

THE  successful  issue  of  the  second  war  with  England 
helped  to  clear  the  air,  and  prepare  the  way  for  the 
free  play  of  the  energies  which  were  rousing  themselves 
within  the  state  for  a  vigorous  industrial,  philanthropic  and 
commercial  life.  We  are  prepared  to  expect  a  ripe  fruitage 
of  political  ideas  after  the  long  discipline  in  which  men  of 
large  caliber  had  a  part.  We  must  again  glance  at  the 
beginning  of  the  civil  freedom  of  Connecticut,  in  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Fundamental  Orders,  January  14,  1639,  when 
the  people  of  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield  became 
"associated  and  conjoined  to  be  as  one  Public  State  or 
Commonwealth,"  for  the  establishment  of  "an  orderly  and 
decent  government,  according  to  God  and  dispose  of  the 
affairs  of  the  people  at  all  seasons  as  occasion  shall  require. " 
The  charter  of  1662,  and  the  declaration  of  state  independ- 
ence in  1776,  were  outgrowths  of  this,  and  at  length  there 
came  a  famous  and  crowning  day,  when  the  constitutional 
convention  met  at  Hartford,  on  August  26,  18 18,  to  conduct 
the  state  still  further  in  constitutional  evolution.  The 
royal  charter  of  Charles  H.,  while  remarkable  for  its  freedom 
from  royal  prerogatives,  was  more  favorable  to  the  aristoc- 
racy and  landed  proprietors  than  to  artisans  and  laborers. 
When  the  United  States  cut  loose  from  the  crown,  it  was 
declared  by  the  General  Assembly  that  the  government  of 
the  state  should  continue  as  established  by  the  charter,  so 

339 


340  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

far  as  would  be  consistent  with  independence.  The  royal 
charter  was  reaffirmed  by  the  revision  of  the  laws  in  1794, 
though  a  number  of  legal  minds  had  attacked  the  validity  of 
the  document,  and  had  insisted  that  there  was  no  civil 
constitution. 

We  have  seen  that  from  the  start  there  was  a  close  union 
of  church  and  state,  with  plenty  of  domineering  on  the  part 
of  the  church,  and  that  there  gradually  developed  the  con- 
viction that  there  were  other  people  in  the  commonwealth 
besides  the  Congregationalists,  who  deserved  legislative 
favor  equally  with  the  standing  order.  In  1770,  a  law  was 
passed  that, 

no  persons  in  this  colony  professing  the  Christian  Protestant 
religion,  who  soberly  and  conscientiously  dissent  from  the  wor- 
ship and  ministry  established  or  approved  by  the  laws  of  this 
Colony,  and  attend  public  worship  by  themselves,  shall  incur  any 
of  the  penalties  .  .  .  for  not  attending  the  worship  and  ministry 
so  established  on  the  Lord's  day,  or  on  account  of  their  meeting 
together  by  themselves  on  said  day  for  the  worship  of  God  in  a 
way  agreeable  to  their  consciences. 

The  question  of  religious  liberty  was  persistently  and  earn- 
estly discussed  and  agitated,  and  in  May,  1777,  the  Assem- 
bly passed  an  act  of  toleration,  "  for  exempting  those  Persons 
in  this  State,  commonly  styled  Separates,  from  taxes  for  the 
support  of  the  established  ministry,  and  building  and  repair- 
ing meeting  houses,"  on  condition  that  they  should  annually 
lodge  with  the  clerk  of  the  Established  Society,  wherein 
they  lived,  a  certificate,  vouching  for  their  attendance 
upon  and  support  of  their  own  form  of  worship.  Said 
certificate  was  to  be  signed  by  the  minister,  elder,  or  deacon 
of  the  church  which  "  they  ordinarily  did  attend."  This 
was  a  long  step  forward,  but  it  was  not  satisfactory;  it 
was  humiliating  to  the  petitioners,  and  there  were  some- 
times petty  obstacles  put  in  their  way  by  the  Churchmen  in 
power.    By  degrees,  the  broader-minded  people  came  to  see 


THe  Constitxition  of  1818  341 

that  the  Saybrook  Platform  was  outliving  its  usefulness,  and 
in  the  first  edition  of  the  "Laws  and  Acts  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut,"  appearing  in  1784,  all  reference  to  the  Say- 
brook  Platform  was  omitted.  It  was  ordered  that  every  one 
who,  for  any  trivial  reason,  absented  himself  from  public 
worship  on  the  Lord's  day  should  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  cents. 
All  religious  bodies  recognized  by  law  were  given  permis- 
sion to  manage  their  temporal  affairs  as  freely  as  did  the 
churches  of  the  Establishment.  Dissenters  were  even  per- 
mitted to  join  religious  societies  in  adjoining  states,  pro- 
vided the  place  of  worship  were  not  too  far  distant  to  attend 
regularly.  To  these  terms  was  affixed  the  sole  condition  of 
presenting  a  certificate  of  membership,  signed  by  an  officer 
of  the  church  of  which  the  dissenter  was  a  member,  and  that 
the  certificate  should  be  lodged  with  the  clerk  of  the  Estab- 
lished society  wherein  the  dissenter  dwelt.  All  strangers 
entering  the  state  were  allowed  a  choice  of  religious  de- 
nominations, but  while  undecided  were  to  pay  taxes  "to  the 
society  lowest  on  the  list."  In  any  question  of  doubt  after 
the  death  of  a  head  of  a  household,  the  society  of  which  the 
head  belonged  determined  the  church  home  of  the  members 
of  the  household,  unless  the  certificates  of  all  the  dissenting 
members  were  on  file.  If  persons  were  undecided,  when  the 
time  of  choice  had  elapsed,  and  they  had  not  presented 
certificates,  they  were  counted  as  members  of  the  Estab- 
lishment. As  we  have  seen,  toleration  extended,  oppression 
ceased,  and  Sandemanians,  Shakers,  Universalists  and 
Seventh-day  Baptists  entered  the  state. 

The  Saybrook  Platform  was  not  annulled  by  the  Assembly, 
but  was  gradually  and  decidedly  sloughed  off,  as  outgrown 
and  worse  than  useless,  but  dissenters  felt  the  humiliation  of 
giving  the  required  certificates  and  acknowledging  a  certain 
supremacy  of  the  Congregational  Church ;  they  also  resented 
the  favoritism  shown  by  the  government  in  its  preference  of 
members  of  the  Establishment  for  civil,  judicial,  and  military 
offices. 


342  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

The  evolution  of  political  freedom  in  Connecticut  was 
aided  by  the  general  disintegration  of  political  parties  which 
took  place  throughout  the  United  States  from  1783,  to  1787. 
After  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  the  Federalist  party 
lost  a  large  part  of  its  reason  for  existence,  and  there  emerged 
an  Anti-Federalist  party,  an  out-party.  This  is  sometimes 
said  to  have  been  bom  in  1783,  out  of  opposition  to  an  act  of 
Congress  voting  five  years'  full  pay  to  the  Revolutionary 
officers,  and  to  the  formation  of  the  Order  of  Cincinnati. 
Both  these  measures  touched  the  principle  of  caste,  which 
prevailed  in  New  England  as  well  as  in  Europe.  The  leading 
Federalists  preferred  to  concentrate  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  few,  rather  than  to  trust  the  great  body  of  citizens. 
The  Established  Church  and  the  Federalists  were  so  closely 
allied  that  they  were  familiarly  known  as  the  Standing  Order. 
Many  of  the  dissenters  were  for  a  time  good  Federalists,  but 
they  passed  over  to  the  Democratic-Republicans,  when  that 
party  began  to  make  clear  their  demands  for  a  broader 
suffrage  and  full  religious  liberty.  The  Federal  Standing 
Order  continued  to  claim  legal  favors,  political  offices,  and 
the  prizes  of  judicial,  military  and  civil  life,  not  merely 
because  such  honors  were  enjoyed,  but  also  because  it  was 
felt  by  the  conservatives  that  the  body  politic  must  be 
guarded  by  a  state  church. 

An  able  and  aggressive  critic  of  the  Establishment  was 
Judge  Zephaniah  Swift  of  Windham,  a  thorough  Federalist, 
and  a  powerful  opponent  of  the  law  which  fined  a  man  for 
absence  from  church,  unless  excused  for  weighty  reasons, 
and  of  the  custom  of  taxing  every  one  for  the  support  of 
some  form  of  recognized  public  worship,  even  though  the 
taxpayer  had  no  personal  interest  in  that  which  he  was 
compelled  to  pay  for.  This  sturdy  opponent  of  the  union  of 
church  and  state,  though  taunted  by  many  as  a  free-thinker, 
had  some  sympathizers  in  the  Establishment.  The  coming 
of  the  Rev.  John  Leland  from  Virginia  to  New  London  was 
favorable  to  the  evolution.     In   Virginia   the  church  and 


THe  Constitution  of  1818  343 

state  separated  in  1785,  and  Leland  had  seen  the  benefits 
following  that  event.  His  book,  The  Right  of  Conscience 
Inalienable,  put  clearly  before  the  Connecticut  people  the 
question  of  establishment  or  disestablishment,  and  he  also 
attacked  the  charter  of  Charles  11. ,  as  being  in  no  true  sense 
the  constitution  of  the  state,  because  it  had  never  been 
accepted  by  vote  of  the  people.  He  arraigned  a  union  of 
church  and  state  that  needed  a  legislature  to  support  re- 
ligion. He  said  that  other  states  had  found  it  unnecessary ; 
that  it  tended  to  produce  evil,  ignorance,  superstition, 
persecution,  lying,  hypocrisy  and  weakness;  that  govern- 
ment had  no  more  to  do  with  religion  than  with  mathematics. 
Influenced  by  such  arguments,  and  by  the  public  opinion 
they  created,  the  Assembly  in  October,  1791,  repealed  the 
certificate  law,  passed  six  months  earlier,  and  passed  a  law 
to  allow  dissenters  to  write  their  own  sign-off s,  requiring  the 
signers  to  file  their  papers  with  the  clerk  of  the  Established 
society  wherein  they  lived.  Another  statute  was  passed  at 
that  time  to  impose  a  fine  of  from  six  to  twelve  shillings  for 
neglect  of  public  fasts  and  thanksgivings. 

At  last,  the  inertia  of  the  people  was  overcome,  and  they 
came  to  see  that  the  mixture  of  legislative,  judicial  and 
executive  elements,  known  as  the  General  Assembly,  with 
its  control  over  religion  and  its  caste  qualifications,  while 
fairly  satisfactory  so  long  as  the  community  consisted  of  a 
few  thousand  souls,  was  incapable  of  meeting  the  diverse 
interests  of  a  growing  industrial  population.  There  were 
party  tilts  over  new  towns,  and  the  imequal  growth  of 
some  of  the  older  ones.  The  Council,  or  Upper  House,  re- 
tained the  same  members  for  many  years,  since  experience 
was  regarded  as  an  important  asset.  The  clergy  also  got 
together  before  elections,  talked  matters  over,  and  then 
directed  the  vote.  The  Council  had  become  almost  a 
Privy  Council;  until  1807,  it  was  the  Supreme  Court,  with 
control  over  all  cases  of  appeal,  civil  and  criminal.  Its 
twelve  members  were  mostly,  if  not  entirely,  lawyers,  with 


344  -^  History  of  Connecticvit 

vast  power  of  patronage  over  members  of  the  Lower  House, 
and  also  over  the  miHtia,  whose  officers  were  appointed  by 
the  General  Assembly.  Moreover,  since  the  united  action 
of  the  two  houses  was  necessary  to  pass  or  repeal  a  law, 
much  important  legislation  depended  on  a  majority  of 
seven.  Besides  all  this,  the  Republican  judges,  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  nineteenth  century,  complained  that  they  were 
not  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  Federals  in  the  state 
tribunals.  The  new  Anti-Federal  party,  or  Democratic- 
Republican  party,  as  it  called  itself  from  1792,  caught 
inspiration  as  well  as  name  from  the  French  Republic;  its 
recruits  were  largely  from  Methodists  and  Baptists,  though 
there  were  Episcopalians  who  joined  it,  and  some  of  the 
more  open-minded  Federalists. 

It  was  not  till  1795,  that  the  Standing  Order  had  a  great 
leader.  When  the  accomplished  and  powerful  Timothy 
Dwight  became  president  of  Yale,  the  conservatives  had  a 
captain,  scholarly,  versatile,  and  energetic,  who  became 
equally  celebrated  in  religion  and  in  politics.  Pope  Dwight 
his  enemies  called  him,  naming  the  ministers  who  followed 
him  bishops,  and  the  Council  or  senators  his  Twelve  Car- 
dinals. President  Dwight  determined  to  combine  the 
activities  that  could  be  used  to  overthrow  the  forces 
which  threatened  church  and  state.  The  election  of 
Adams  and  Jefferson  in  1797,  spurred  both  parties. 
On  the  Sunday  following  the  news  of  the  election,  the 
Rev.  Jedidiah  Champion  of  Litchfield,  an  ardent  Fed- 
eralist, prayed  fervently  for  the  president-elect,  and 
closed  with  the  words,  "O  Lord!  wilt  Thou  bestow  upon 
the  vice-president  a  double  portion  of  Thy  grace,  for  Thou 
knowest  he  needs  it.'"  The  Connecticut  Republicans  did 
not  organize  their  party  till  1800,  when  they  began  to  urge 
the  oppressed  dissenters  to  accept  their  platform.  Their 
leader  was  Pierpont  Edwards,  son  of  the  famous  Jonathan 
Edwards,  and  a  recently  appointed  judge  of  the  United 
States  District  Court.    He  was  the  maternal  uncle  of  Presi- 


TKe  Constitvation  of  1818  345 

dent  D wight,  the  great  leader  of  the  Standing  Order. 
Another  strong  leader  of  the  Federals  was  Theodore  Dwight, 
brother  of  the  president  of  Yale,  editor  of  the  Hartford 
Courant,  and  he  led  the  civilians.  The  two  Bishops,  Samuel 
and  Abraham,  father  and  son,  were  both  doughty  champions 
of  the  Republicans.  Samuel  Bishop  was  senior  deacon  in 
the  North  Church  of  New  Haven,  justice  of  peace,  town 
clerk,  and  mayor.  He  was  also  chief  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  and  sole  judge  of  Probate.  Abraham  Bishop 
was  a  lawyer  and  clerk  of  court.  He  was  a  man  of  careless 
theology  and  exaggerated  habits  of  speech.  He  would  have 
been  called  a  Unitarian  a  little  later,  when  Unitarianism  was 
regarded  as  a  crime,  and  according  to  Connecticut  statutes 
was  classed  with  atheism,  polytheism,  and  apostacy. 

Abraham  Bishop  was  honored  with  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
oration  at  the  Yale  commencement  in  1800,  and  instead  of  a 
polished  literary  effort,  he  wrote  an  address  on  "The  Extent 
and  Power  of  Political  Delusions,"  a  campaign  document. 
The  committee,  to  which  it  was  sent  in  August,  refused  it  at 
the  eleventh  hour,  and  appointed  another  orator.  The 
same  paper  that  announced  the  change  in  orators  said  that 
the  refused  address  would  be  given  to  all  who  cared  to  listen, 
at  the  White  Church  that  same  evening,  and  that  copies 
were  ready  for  distribution  through  the  state.  Bishop  had 
an  audience  of  fifteen  hundred,  and  they  heard  a  trumpet- 
blast.  The  debates  which  followed  were  fierce  and  relent- 
less. Noah  Webster  replied  to  Bishop  by  "A  Rod  for  the 
Fool's  Back."  John  Leland  published  his  Hartford  speech, 
"A  Blow  at  the  Root,"  and  his  "High  Flying  Churchman." 
Bishop  published  "Connecticut  Republicanism,"  in  which 
he  said: 

Christianity  has  suffered  more  by  the  attempts  to  unite 
church  and  state  than  by  all  the  deistical  writings,  yet  the  men 
who  denounce  them  are  pronounced  atheists,  and  no  proof  of 
their  atheism  is  required,  but  their  opposition  to  Federal  meas- 


346  A  History  of  Connectic\jt 

ures.  The  clergyman  preaches  politics,  the  civilian  prates  of 
orthodoxy,  and  if  any  man  refuse  to  join  their  coalition,  they 
endeavor  to  hunt  him  down  to  the  tune  of  "The  Church  is  in 
danger."  The  Trinitarian  doctrine  is  established  by  laws,  and 
the  denial  of  it  is  placed  in  the  rank  of  felony.  Break  the  league 
of  church  and  state  which  first  subjugates  your  consciences, 
then,  treating  your  understanding  as  galley  slaves,  robs  you  of 
religion  and  civil  freedom.  Thirty  thousand  men  are  against  the 
union  of  church  and  state.  Thirty  thousand  more  men,  deprived 
of  voting  because  they  are  not  rich  or  learned  enough,  are  ready 
to  join  them. 

In  1803,  John  Leland,  representing  four  thousand  Baptist 
communicants  and  twenty  thousand  attendants,  sent  out  a 
plea,  insisting  that  since  thirteen  states  had  granted  religious 
liberty,  it  was  time  for  Connecticut  to  take  action.  In  1804, 
John  Strong  of  Norwich  founded  the  True  Republican  to 
advance  Republican  principles.  From  1792,  the  Windham 
Herald  was  the  organ  of  the  telling  blows  of  Judge  Swift, 
the  powerful  foe  of  union  of  church  and  state.  On  May 
II,  1804,  Bishop  said  in  Hartford: 

Connecticut  has  no  constitution.  We  still  live  under  the  old 
jumble  of  legislative,  executive  and  judicial  powers  called  a 
charter.  We  still  suffer  from  the  old  restrictions  on  the  right  to 
vote,  we  are  still  ruled  by  the  whims  of  seven  men.  Twelve 
make  the  Council,  seven  form  a  majority,  and  in  the  hands  of 
these  seven  are  all  powers,  legislative,  executive  and  judicial. 
On  them  more  than  half  of  the  House  of  Assembly  is  dependent 
for  re-appointment  as  justices,  judges,  or  for  promotion  in  the 
militia.  By  their  breath,  are,  each  year,  brought  into  official  life 
six  judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  twenty-eight  of  the  probate, 
forty  of  county  courts,  and  five  hundred  and  ten  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  all  the  sheriffs.  Who  may  be  freemen?  No  one  who 
does  not  have  a  freehold  estate  worth  seven  dollars  a  year,  or  a 
personal  estate  on  the  tax  list  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
dollars.  We  demand  a  constitution  that  shall  separate  the  legis- 
lative, executive  and  judicial  power,  extend  the  freeman's  oath 


XHe  Constitxition  of  1818  347 

to  men  who  labor  on  the  highways,  who  serve  in  the  mihtia,  who 
pay  small  taxes,  but  possess  no  estates. 

A  general  meeting  was  called  by  the  Republican  general 
committee,  of  which  Pierpont  Edwards  was  chairman.  It 
was  held  in  New  Haven,  August  29,  1804.  Ninety-seven 
towns  sent  delegates,  and  Major  William  Judd  of  Farming- 
ton  was  chairman.  A  series  of  resolutions  was  passed 
in  favor  of  a  new  constitution,  and  ten  thousand  copies  dis- 
tributed. The  fall  election  of  1804,  was  lost  by  the  Republi- 
cans, but  there  was  a  wide  sympathy  with  the  defeated 
party.  The  Federal  leaders  in  the  legislature  of  October, 
1804,  resolved  to  punish  the  defeated  Republicans.  Five 
of  the  justices  of  the  peace  who  had  attended  the  New  Haven 
convention  were  summoned  before  the  legislature  to  show 
why  they  did  not  deserve  to  forfeit  their  commissions. 
What  right  had  they  to  attack  a  constitution  they  had 
sworn  to  uphold?  Edwards  spoke  for  the  justices,  and 
Daggett  for  the  Federals,  declaring  the  New  Haven  ad- 
dress an  outrage  upon  decency.  The  following  day,  the 
commissions  were  revoked.  The  fight  was  on.  Pulpits 
became  lecture  platforms;  there  was  an  insistent  plea  that 
since  religion  preserved  morals,  it  should  have  the  support 
of  the  state.  A  second  convention  was  held  in  Litchfield  in 
August,  1806,  and  its  criticisms  were  more  decided.  For 
several  years,  so  intrenched  was  the  Federal  party,  so 
influential  was  it,  because  of  several  thousand  offices  within 
its  patronage,  that  the  Republican  increase  was  slow.  The 
ministers  enjoyed  taking  a  hand  in  politics,  and  were  skillful 
at  the  wires.  By  181 1,  the  lawyers  began  to  work  against 
the  ministers,  who  were  planning  to  follow  the  method  of  the 
party  machine,  and  make  Lieutenant-Governor  Tread  well 
governor,  but  Roger  Griswold,  an  able  man,  and  a  favorite 
with  the  lawyers,  was  chosen.  The  lawyers,  in  talking 
about  it,  said:  "We  have  served  the  clergy  long  enough;  we 
must  take  another  man,  and  they  must  look  out  for  them- 


34^  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

selves."  After  the  war  of  1812,  the  ministers  withdrew 
somewhat  from  politics;  the  Episcopalians  joined  forces 
with  the  new  party  of  Republicans;  the  Methodists  and 
Baptists  added  their  influence,  and  the  demand  was  made 
that  "legal  religion"  be  aboHshed,  and  "the  adulterous 
union  of  church  and  state  be  forever  dissolved." 

A  meeting  was  held  at  New  Haven  to  cement  an  alliance 
between  the  Democrats  and  those  of  the  Federalists  who 
were  opposed  to  the  "Standing  Order,"  and  were  "friends 
of  toleration  and  reform."  Oliver  Wolcott,  Federalist  of 
the  Federalists,  was  nominated  for  governor  and  Jonathan 
Ingersoll,  a  Federalist,  an  eminent  New  Haven  lawyer,  a 
prominent  Episcopalian,  was  nominated  for  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor. The  result  was  that  the  Tolerationists  failed  in  18 16, 
to  seat  Wolcott,  but  Judge  Ingersoll,  with  the  help  of  the 
Federalists,  was  elected  lieutenant-governor.  The  dimin- 
ished majority  of  the  Federalist  governor,  John  Cotton 
Smith,  foreshadowed  the  political  revolution  so  near  at 
hand,  and  the  triumph  of  the  new  political  party,  first  called 
American,  and  afterwards,  American  and  Toleration.  At 
the  session  of  the  legislature  in  October,  18 16,  the  Federalists 
adopted  conciliatory  measures  to  strengthen  their  position. 
There  was  a  balance  due  the  state  from  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  the  Assembly  voted  to  pass  an  "act  for  the 
support  of  literature  and  religion."  One- third  was  given 
to  Congregational  societies;  one-seventh  to  the  Episcopal- 
ians; one-eighth  to  the  Baptists;  one- twelfth  to  the  Method- 
ists, and  one-seventh  to  Yale  College.  The  result  was 
more  decided  discontent,  and  even  hostility.  The  Quak- 
ers were  assumed  to  be  satisfied  with  their  recent  exemp- 
tions from  military  duty  upon  the  payment  of  a  small 
tax;  Sandemanians  and  other  insignificant  sects  were  sup- 
posed to  be  conciliated  by  the  act  of  the  preceding  April, 
which  repealed,  after  a  duration  of  nearly  one  hundred 
and  eighty  years,  the  fine  of  fifty  cents  for  absence  from 
church  on  Sunday.     The  people  were  at  last  free  to  wor- 


TKe  Constitution  of  1818  349 

ship  as  they  chose,  or  omit  worship  altogether.  They 
had  yet  to  obtain  equal  privileges  for  all  denominations,  and 
exemption  from  enforced  support  of  religion.  The  passage 
of  this  bill  was  universally  condemned  by  every  dissenter 
and  political  come-outer,  and  the  storm  of  protest  was  sharp 
and  violent.  The  campaign  issue  of  the  spring  of  181 7,  was, 
"whether  freemen  shall  be  tolerated  in  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religious  and  political  rights."  Oliver  Wolcott  was 
elected  with  a  majority  of  six  hundred  votes,  and  Ingersoll 
was  reelected  lieutenant-governor  by  an  easy  majority. 

Oliver  Wolcott,  the  father  of  the  Constitution  of  18 18, 
who  was  the  third  member  of  that  family  called  to  the  chair 
of  governor,  was  born  in  Litchfield  in  1760,  was  aide-de- 
camp to  his  father  in  the  Continental  Army,  succeeded 
Hamilton  as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  was  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Bank  of  North  America ;  founding,  in  company 
with  his  brother,  large  woolen  mills  near  Torrington.  In 
his  inaugural,  Governor  Wolcott  placed  before  the  Assembly 
the  questions  soon  to  be  discussed  in  the  convention  of  1818. 
There  was  need  of  wise  statesmanship;  mills  were  having  a 
hard  time  in  the  business  depression,  farmers  were  burdened 
by  taxes  on  stock,  dairy  products,  and  tillage;  money  was 
scarce;  the  majority  had  a  scanty  living;  trades  were  few 
and  wages  low.  A  farm  hand  averaged  fifty  cents  a  day, 
paid  in  provisions.  Women  of  all  work  drudged  for  fifty 
cents  a  week,  while  a  farm  overseer  received  a  salary  of 
seventy  dollars  a  year.  The  wealthy  had  small  incomes. 
It  was  said  that  the  rich  and  prosperous  Pierpont  Edwards, 
the  eminent  lawyer  of  New  Haven,  had  an  income  of  two 
thousand  dollars  a  year  from  his  practice. 

The  Assembly  had  encroached  upon  the  courts;  in  18 15, 
it  had  set  aside  the  conviction  of  a  murderer,  and  the  judge, 
Zephaniah  Swift,  appealed  to  the  public  to  vindicate  his 
judicial  character,  insisting  that  the  "Legislature  should 
never  encroach  on  the  Judiciary,  otherwise,  the  Legislature 
would  become  one  great  arbitration,  that  would  engulf  all 


350  -A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

the  courts  of  law,  and  sovereign  discretion  would  be  the  only 
rule  of  decision, — a  state  of  things  equally  favorable  to 
lawyers  and  criminals."  The  committees  to  which  the 
governor's  suggestions  were  referred  did  little.  A  barren 
act  of  toleration  was  passed,  retaining  the  certificate  clause. 
Determined  to  carry  the  day  in  1818,  the  winter  pre- 
vious to  election  was  a  time  of  strenuous  agitation;  at  the 
spring  elections  the  reform  ticket  won,  seating  Wolcott  in 
the  governor's  chair  again,  giving  an  anti-Federal  major- 
ity in  both  Senate  and  House.  It  was  voted  that  the 
freemen  should  assemble  in  town  meetings  on  the  following 
fourth  of  July  to  elect  as  many  delegates  as  representatives 
in  the  Assembly,  to  meet  in  a  convention  at  Hartford,  August 
26,  1818,  to  form  a  constitution.  Members  of  all  creeds  and 
of  no  creeds  met  at  that  place;  seven  of  them  were  in  the 
convention  that  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  such  venerable  Federalists  were  there  as  Stephen 
M.  Mitchell,  Jesse  Root,  and  John  Treadwell.  Earnest 
leaders  of  the  Established  Order  were  there,  as  well  as  the 
powerful  men  of  the  new  party  of  Toleration  and  Reform, 
whose  founder,  Pierpont  Edwards,  the  youngest  son  of 
Jonathan  Edwards,  brought  his  profound  legal  lore  to  the 
convention.  Alexander  Wolcott  of  Middletown,  the  founder 
and  father  of  the  Jefferson  school  of  politics  in  the  state,  was 
there,  and  Oliver  Wolcott  was  chosen  to  preside. 

A  committee  of  twenty-four,  three  from  every  county, 
was  appointed  to  draft  a  constitution,  and  five  of  these  were 
of  the  Federalist  party.  The  debates  were  long  and  thorough, 
but  in  the  end  the  Toleration  party  triumphed,  winning  for 
the  people  all  that  had  been  promised,  securing  "the  same 
and  equal  powers,  rights,  and  privileges  to  all  denominations 
of  Christians."  The  constitution  of  18 18,  was  modeled 
after  the  old  charter,  and  contained  much  of  that  famous 
and  invaluable  instrument,  but  it  declared  more  clearly  the 
principles  of  personal  liberty.  It  established  the  rights  of 
suffrage  on  personal  qualifications,  discarding  property  con- 


Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.  (1760-1833),  President  of  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1818  and  Governor  1817-1827 

From  a  Painting  in  the  Memorial  Hall  of  the  Connecticut  State  Library  by  George  F. 
Wright  after  the  Original  by  Stuart 


THe  Constitution  of  1818  351 

ditlons.  It  reorganized  the  courts,  separating  them  from  the 
legislature,  reducing  the  number  of  judges  nearly  one-half, 
and  in  the  higher  courts  continuing  them  in  office  until 
seventy  years  old,  unless  impeached.  Amendments  to  the 
constitution  were  provided  for.  The  legislature  was  to  con- 
sist of  two  branches;  the  upper  to  be  known  as  the  Senate, 
to  consist  of  fourteen  members;  the  lower  branch  to  be 
called  the  House  of  Representatives;  the  towns,  being  the 
unit  of  organization,  retained  their  former  number  of  dele- 
gates without  regard  to  population.  There  were  to  be 
annual  elections,  and  the  meetings  were  to  be  held  alter- 
nately in  Hartford  and  New  Haven,  thus  saving,  as  was 
estimated,  fourteen  thousand  dollars  a  year.  The  governor 
was  given  the  veto  power,  though  a  majority  of  the  legis- 
lature could  override  his  action.  The  union  of  church  and 
state  was  dissolved,  and  all  bodies  were  put  on  the  same 
level  of  self-support.  There  were  other  minor  changes; 
Methodist,  Baptist,  and  Universalist  ministers  had  been 
practically  excluded  from  marrying  people,  and  that  injus- 
tice was  remedied.  Formerly,  Yale  College  was  the  only 
literary  institution  favored  by  the  legislature ;  under  the  new 
rule  Trinity  College  received  a  charter,  despite  strong 
opposition;  and  one  was  granted  later  to  the  Methodists  at 
Middletown.  Teaching  the  catechism,  which  had  been 
enforced  by  law,  was  made  optional,  and  Congregational 
ministers  stepped  down  from  the  place  of  political  power. 
The  lower  magistracy  was  distributed  as  equally  as  possible 
among  the  various  political  and  religious  interests,  and  the 
judges  in  the  higher  courts  were  appointed  for  other  reasons 
than  that  they  were  members  of  the  Standing  Order. 

The  victory  of  religious  and  political  liberty  was  com- 
plete.   Article  VH.  of  the  constitution  reads  as  follows: 

It  being  the  right  and  duty  of  all  men  to  worship  the  Supreme 
Being,  the  great  Creator  and  Preserver  of  the  universe,  in  the 
mode  most  consistent  with  the  dictates  of  their  consciences;  no 


352  j\  History  of  Connecticxit 

person  shall  be  compelled  to  join  or  support,  nor  by  law  be  classed 
with  any  congregation,  church  or  religious  association.  And 
each  and  every  society  or  denomination  of  Christians  in  this 
state  shall  have  and  enjoy  the  same  and  equal  rights  and  privi- 
leges; and  shall  have  power  and  authority  to  support  and  main- 
tain the  ministers  or  teachers  of  their  respective  denominations, 
and  to  build  and  repair  houses  for  public  worship,  by  a  tax  on  the 
members  of  the  respective  societies  only,  or  in  any  other  manner. 
If  any  person  shall  choose  to  separate  himself  from  the  society 
or  denomination  of  Christians  to  which  he  may  belong,  and  shall 
leave  a  written  notice  thereof  with  the  clerk  of  said  society,  he 
shall  thereupon  be  no  longer  liable  for  any  further  expenses, 
which  may  be  incurred  by  said  society. 

The  Senate  was  to  be  chosen  by  districts,  which  at  first 
numbered  twelve;  since  1828,  not  less  than  eighteen  or 
more  than  twenty-four,  and  since  1905,  not  less  than  twenty- 
four  or  more  than  thirty-six.  The  House  of  Representatives, 
which  in  1639,  had  four  deputies  from  each  of  the  three 
towns,  was  to  have  two  electors  from  each  town  as  then 
practiced,  and  in  case  of  the  incorporation  of  a  new  town, 
it  was  to  have  but  one  representative.  As  since  amended, 
every  town  of  five  thousand  is  entitled  to  two  representatives, 
and  every  other  to  its  present  number,  which  is  never  more 
than  two.  In  case  of  the  incorporation  of  a  new  town,  it  is 
entitled  to  a  representative,  if  it  has  twenty-five  hundred 
inhabitants,  otherwise  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the 
town  from  which  it  was  taken,  and  shall  be  an  election  dis- 
trict of  such  town.  Until  1875,  the  legislature  met  in 
Hartford  and  New  Haven  in  alternate  years,  since  then, 
Hartford  has  been  the  sole  capital;  since  1875,  senators  and 
representatives  have  held  office  for  two  years.  The  General 
Assembly  now  holds  stated  sessions  once  in  two  years  be- 
ginning on  the  Wednesday  following  the  first  Monday  in  Janu- 
ary. Voters  were  to  be  white  male  citizens  of  the  United 
•States,  who  had  gained  residence  in  the  state,  attained  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  and  resided  in  the  town  for  six  months;  to 


TKe  Constitxition  of  1818  353 

have  a  freehold  estate  of  seven  dollars  in  the  state,  or  shall 
have  performed  military  duty  for  a  year.  This  has  been 
amended  to  give  the  ballot  to  every  male  citizen  of  the 
United  States  who  shall  have  resided  in  this  state  for  a  year, 
and  in  the  town  six  months;  who  can  read  in  the  English 
language  any  article  of  the  Constitution  or  any  section  of  the 
statutes ;  who  shall  sustain  a  good  moral  character,  and  take 
such  oath  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

In  view  of  the  inequality  in  the  representation  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  since  a  town  of  less  than  a  hundred 
voters  can  be  represented  in  the  legislature,  and  the  largest 
city  can  have  no  more  than  two  representatives,  a  constitu- 
tional convention  was  held  in  1902,  to  secure  a  reapportion- 
ment of  the  membership  of  the  House  through  an  amendment 
of  the  constitution,  but  nothing  came  of  it,  and  the  Con- 
necticut town  continues  to  be  a  unit  of  the  government  more 
powerful  than  its  population  implies. 

After  this  sketch  of  the  development  of  religious  and 
political  liberty,  culminating  in  the  constitution  of  1818, 
little  of  comment  is  needed.  The  growth  was  slow,  as  might 
be  expected  from  the  conservative  and  deliberate  nature 
of  the  people,  whose  disposition  reminds  one  sometimes  of 
the  dog  in  the  manger.  But  by  degrees  the  victory  was  won, 
and  the  new  constitution,  giving  expression  to  the  principles 
which  had  been  within  the  life  of  the  people  from  the  begin- 
ning, leaving  behind  the  decaying  remainders  of  an  outworn 
past,  became  the  expression  of  the  best  thought  of  the  new 
age,  and  made  possible  the  larger  service  of  the  common- 
wealth, as  it  passed  out  into  a  more  diversified,  and  not  less 
exacting  era. 
33 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

INVENTIONS,  DISCOVERIES,  AND  INDUSTRIES  OF 
THE  NINETEENTH   CENTURY 

WE  have  seen  that  from  the  beginning  there  was  a 
decided  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  people  of 
Connecticut  toward  invention  and  industries,  which  prom- 
ised domestic  comfort,  civic  advance,  and  financial  return. 
The  early  environment  was  so  stem,  the  struggle  for  a  living 
so  strenuous,  the  wars  so  frequent  and  so  exhausting,  and 
the  time  required  to  learn  about  the  resources  of  the  common- 
wealth so  well  filled,  that  it  was  not  until  the  settlement  was 
nearly  two  centuries  old  that  the  remarkable  genius  of  the 
people  for  initiating  large  and  powerful  manufacturing 
enterprises  had  free  play.  The  change  of  the  industrial  life 
of  the  state  from  a  narrow,  retail  method  to  wholesale 
combinations  was  not  fully  under  way  until  after  1 8 12,  and 
the  decade  of  the  greatest  relative  growth  was  from  i860, 
to  1870,  when  the  products  almost  doubled.  From  1850,  to 
1900,  the  population  increased  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
per  cent.,  and  wage-earners  in  factories  two  hundred  and 
forty-eight  per  cent.  With  the  opening  century  primitive 
industries  were  passing,  and  home-made  devices  to  fashion 
tools  and  clothing  were  yielding  to  manufactories,  which 
were  springing  up  on  many  a  stream,  as  Yankee  ingenuity 
learned  to  change  iron,  steel,  brass,  cotton,  wool,  silk,  glass, 
ivory,  and  clay  into  all  kinds  of  goods  for  ornament  and  use. 
Connecticut  was  recovering  from  the  long,  hard  strain  of  the 

354 


Inventions,  Discoveries,   Industries         355 

Revolution,  and  was  directing  her  energies  to  the  application 
of  power  to  machinery  for  the  building  up  of  fortunes,  and 
the  development  of  the  rich  resources  on  every  side.  The 
training  of  the  plain,  frugal  life  of  the  earlier  days  had 
been  severe  and  valuable;  the  eye  and  hand  of  the  farmer's 
boy  had  been  educated  in  the  rude  and  varied  school  of 
practical  mechanics.  Times  were  growing  easier,  wages 
increasing,  and  land  becoming  more  productive,  as  farmers 
learned  to  work  it  better,  and  enlarge  the  variety  of  produc- 
tions. Towns  were  increasing  in  size:  the  census  of  1800, 
gave  the  state  a  population  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-one 
thousand;  Hartford  and  New  Haven  were  cities,  having 
been  incorporated  in  1784,  but  they  were  primitive  and 
small;  centers,  with  stage  connection  with  New  York  and 
Boston,  a  weekly  newspaper  in  each,  and  shops  with 
varied  goods.  New  Haven  had  the  advantage  over 
Hartford  in  its  foreign  commerce,  which  began  to  revive 
after  the  Revolution.  Her  Long  Wharf,  three  thousand 
five  hundred  feet  in  length,  product  of  lotteries,  private 
enterprise,  and  state  aid,  was  finished  in  1802,  and  was  the 
headquarters  of  foreign  trade.  With  Yale  College  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  New  Haven  was  moving  into  the  front 
rank  of  the  new  life  of  the  state.  Her  town  poor  were  no 
longer  sold  at  auction,  and  geese  and  cattle  were  banished 
from  the  Green,  which  was  beginning  to  take  on  something 
of  beauty.  The  city  made  an  earnest  but  fruitless  effort  in 
1804,  for  public  water-works;  it  was  also  making  the  begin- 
ning of  a  cemetery,  to  take  the  place  of  the  doleful  little 
burial-grounds,  scattered  through  the  different  neighbor- 
hoods, after  the  ancient  custom. 

With  the  agitation  leading  to  the  constitution  of  1818, 
and  the  push  received  from  that  fine  triumph,  there  came 
also  the  increased  self-respect  which  followed  the  second 
war  for  independence.  We  find  many  tokens  of  efforts 
making  here  and  there  to  introduce  industries  more  profitable 
than  raising  corn,  barley,  and  rye;  and  a  decided  momentum 


356  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

was  given  to  the  industrial  advance  by  the  passage  of  the 
Joint  Stock  Act  of  1837,  framed  by  Theodore  Hinsdale, 
introducing  the  corporation  in  the  form  in  which  we  know 
it — a  principle  copied  in  almost  every  other  state,  and  by  the 
English  Limited  Liability  Act  of  1855.  The  effect  of  this 
simple  principle  upon  the  modem  industrial  development 
of  the  world  has  been  past  calculation.  With  the  opening 
century  there  came  also  machinery  from  Europe,  and  still 
more  out  of  the  skillful  brains  of  the  people.  For  some  time 
the  people  preferred  imported  goods  bf  more  famous  make 
and  foreign  label,  but  by  18 10,  Connecticut  had  fourteen 
cotton  mills,  fifteen  woolen  mills,  eight  furnaces,  forty-eight 
forges,  and  four  brass  foundries,  besides  many  smaller 
establishments,  such  as  tanneries,  ropewalks,  distilleries, 
glass-works,  marble  and  brick  works,  potteries,  boot  and 
shoe  shops,  tin-plate  mills,  gunpowder  mills  and  carriage 
manufactories.  By  1849,  there  were  fifty  thousand  seven 
hundred  wage-earners,  and  the  total  value  of  manu- 
factured goods  was  over  forty-seven  million  dollars  a  year. 
In  the  following  fifty  years,  the  goods  increased  in  value 
to  four  hundred  and  ninety  millions,  and  the  gross  value  of 
the  products  per  capita  of  the  population  from  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  to  four  hundred  and  forty  dollars.  In 
1909,  there  were  four  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty 
manufactories,  employing  over  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  thousand  persons  at  an  expense  of  more  than  one 
hundred  and  thirty -five  million  dollars,  creating  a  net  wealth 
of  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  millions. 

Some  of  the  earliest  products  of  the  forests  and  river 
banks  were  skins  of  muskrats  and  similar  little  animals,  which 
were  collected  for  fur  and  beaver  hats,  and  the  manufacture 
of  hats  for  sale  began  in  a  modest  way  in  Danbury  in  1780. 
In  those  days  of  the  Revolution  there  stood  a  little  red  build- 
ing at  the  northern  edge  of  the  village,  where  Zadoc  Benedict, 
the  owner  of  the  shop,  and  the  father  of  American  hatting, 
carried  on  his  industry,  employing  one  journeyman  and  two 


Inventions,  Discoveries,  Indvistries         357 

apprentices,  and  the  output  of  the  shop  was  three  hats  per 
day.  Soon  after  the  Revolution  other  shops  were  estab- 
lished, and  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  hatting 
was  the  principal  industry  of  Danbury,  which  now  has 
establishments  that  turn  out  two  hundred  and  fifty  dozen 
hats  per  day,  employing  from  three  to  five  hundred  opera- 
tives. There  were  in  1909,  eighty  establishments  in  the 
state  for  the  manufacture  of  hats,  employing  nearly  six 
thousand  persons,  and  Connecticut  stood  second  among  the 
states  in  the  industry. 

In  1793,  Eli  Terry  went  from  South  Windsor,  his  birth- 
place, to  Northbury,  then  a  part  of  Watertown,  and  began 
the  manufacture  of  clocks;  and  in  1802,  he  began  to  use 
water-power.  Terry  had  been  educated  by  the  best  English 
clock-makers  and  he  was  quick  to  see  what  the  people 
needed.  He  took  out  his  first  patent  in  1797,  and  ten 
years  later,  he  was  manufacturing  clocks  by  the  thousands, 
making  parts  to  gauge.  In  18 14,  he  introduced  the  new 
and  convenient  mantel  clock,  which  soon  became  popular. 
He  also  made  town  clocks,  as  the  one  for  the  Center  Church 
in  New  Haven.  In  181 8,  Chauncy  Jerome  began  the  man- 
ufacture of  brass  clocks,  in  Plymouth,  and  he  afterwards 
moved  to  Bristol,  where  he  manufactured  brass  clocks. 
Three  workmen  could  take  brass  in  sheets,  press  it  out,  level 
it  under  the  drop,  cut  the  teeth,  and  make  the  wheels  for  five 
hundred  clocks  in  a  day.  In  1844,  Jerome  began  to  make 
clocks  in  New  Haven,  and  his  successful  business  led  to 
the  forming  of  the  New  Haven  Clock  Company.  In  1840, 
the  value  of  clocks  made  in  the  state,  almost  entirely  for  the 
home  market,  was  over  a  million  dollars,  and  the  manu- 
facturers began  to  look  toward  Europe.  So  low  was  the 
cost  of  production  that  the  first  clocks  exported  paid 
more  than  two  thousand  per  cent,  profit.  The  story  goes 
that  when  Jerome,  in  1842,  shipped  a  consignment  to 
England,  the  price  at  which  the  clocks  were  invoiced  was 
so   low  that    the  custom    house  officers    there,  suspecting 


358  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

undervaluation,  used  their  right  to  take  the  cargo  at  its 
invoice  value,  which  pleased  the  clock-makers  and  they 
shipped  another  cargo,  which  met  a  similar  fate,  and  when 
the  third  arrived  the  officers  decided  to  go  out  of  the  clock 
business.  Seth  Thomas,  who  was  born  in  Wolcott  in  1785, 
became  associated  with  Eli  Terry  and  Silas  Hoadley  in  1809, 
in  making  clocks.  The  following  year  he  sold  his  interest 
and  bought  in  Plymouth  the  site  where  the  case  shop  is 
now,  and  began  his  famous  manufactory.  In  1853,  the  Seth 
Thomas  Clock  Company  was  organized  at  Thomaston,  and 
it  manufactures  annually  four  hundred  thousand  clocks,  fur- 
nishing employment  for  nearly  one  thousand  persons.  Of  the 
sixteen  establishments  in  the  state  in  1909,  making  time- 
pieces, nine  manufactured  clocks,  and  nearly  three-fourths 
of  the  total  output  in  the  United  States  was  made  in  Con- 
necticut, which  stands  first  among  the  states  in  the  value 
of  clocks  and  watches  manufactured,     '^^■y^. 

The  pins  before  the  Revolution  were  crude,  being  drawn 
from  wire  by  hand,  and  the  head  was  made  by  twisting  fine 
wire  around  the  end.  About  1824,  a  machine  was  invented 
that  made  solid  heads  by  driving  a  part  of  the  pin  into  a 
countersunk  hole.  In  1831,  J.  S.  Howe  of  New  York  per- 
fected a  machine  which  made  a  pin  by  one  operation;  his 
most  urgent  need  being  of  skillful  mechanics,  he  turned  to 
Connecticut  men  at  work  on  brass  clocks,  and  the  manu- 
facture of  pins  began  in  Derby  in  1835.  Sixty -five  per  cent, 
of  the  pins  and  needles  made  in  the  United  States  are 
produced  in  this  state. 

The  making  of  clocks  and  pins  made  necessary  the 
establishment  of  brass  mills,  and  soon  brass  was  drawn,  cut, 
beaten,  or  twisted  into  various  articles.  In  1905,  seventy- 
three  per  cent,  of  the  rolling  and  manufacture  of  brass  and 
copper  in  the  country  was  done  in  this  state,  and  the  gross 
product  was  over  seventy  million  dollars.  In  1909,  Con- 
necticut ranked  first  in  the  combined  value  of  brass  and 
bronze  products. 


00     cfl 


Inventions,  Discoveries,   Industries         359 

The  tinware  industries,  made  famous  by  peddlers,  who 
after  the  Revolution  traveled  to  the  Mississippi  and  through 
the  South,  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  after  18 15, 
single  shops  would  send  out  from  twenty  to  thirty  wagons; 
in  1850,  they  were  carrying  clocks,  copper,  tin,  and  brass- 
ware,  hats,  shoes,  combs,  axes,  buttons,  and  paper.  The  use 
of  tin  soon  led  the  way  to  a  demand  for  a  better  class  of 
goods,  and  pewter,  composed  of  four  parts  lead  and  one 
part  English  block  tin,  was  introduced.  Ashbel  Griswold  of 
Meriden  and  Hiram  Yale  of  Wallingford  were  pioneers,  and 
English  workmen  were  imported  by  the  latter  to  work  a 
metal  which  was  called  britannia,  a  metal  that  would  take 
a  more  durable  polish  than  pewter,  and  the  Yales  became 
the  largest  manufacturers  in  the  country  of  a  large  line  of 
hollow  ware.  Other  large  firms  started  in  Meriden  about 
1850,  and  the  Meriden  Britannia  Company  produced  large 
quantities  of  goods  cast  in  molds ;  before  long  the  rolling  of 
metals  began,  and  in  1856,  electroplating  was  introduced. 
In  the  early  sixties,  metal  or  nickel  silver  was  substituted  for 
britannia,  and  later,  sterling  silver  has  been  much  used.  The 
invention  of  electroplating  at  Hartford  in  1856,  by  Asa  H. 
Williams  and  Simeon  S.  Rogers,  was  of  decided  value,  and 
the  business,  which  began  in  a  cellar,  graduated  the  following 
year  into  a  factory,  built  for  the  purpose.  So  extensive  is 
the  silver  industry  in  Meriden  that  it  is  called  the  Silver 
City.  In  1909,  there  were  thirty-one  establishments  in  the 
state  for  the  manufacture  of  silver  and  plated  ware,  employ- 
ing nearly  seven  thousand  persons,  and  the  combined 
products  of  the  industry  formed  over  one-third  of  the  total 
value  for  the  country.   ryA^f:^ 

'  In  the  manufacture  of  machine  screws,  Connecticut 
ranks  first  in  the  United  States,  and  the  Hartford  Machine 
Screw  Company,  organized  in  1856,  manufactures  all  sizes 
of  screws,  from  those  for  the  heaviest  engine  to  watch  screws 
so  small  that  one  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  six  hundred 
and  fifty-four  of  them  weigh  a  pound.     In  metal- working 


36o  A.  History  of  Connecticxjit 

machinery  Connecticut  is  third  in  the  amount  of  her  products, 
and  the  manufacture  of  machines  of  a  high  grade  is  made 
possible  by  the  invention  of  tools  for  accurate  measurement, 
guaranteed  to  measure  one  fifty-one-thousandth  of  an  inch. 
Bell-making  began  in  this  state  late  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  it  has  become  an  important  industry,  furnishing 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  total  production  of  the  country. 
The  establishments  engaged  in  this  are  principally  in 
Chatham  and  East  Haddam. 

"^  The  introduction  of  lock-making  in  Connecticut  is  cred- 
ited to  Stephen  C.  Bucknell,  an  Englishman,  who  settled  in 
Watertown  in  1832,  and  made  locks  by  the  English  methods 
of  hand  labor.  The  business  was  taken  up  by  Eli  Terry, 
2d,  and  others;  improved  machinery  and  better  styles  of 
locks  introduced;  other  firms  combined,  and  in  1854,  the 
Eagle  Lock  Company  was  formed.  The  company  that  has 
given  Connecticut  a  world-wide  fame  is  the  Yale  and 
Towne  Manufacturing  Company,  which  was  located  at 
Stamford  in  1869,  and  the  fiat  keyed  lock,  known  as  the 
Yale  lock,  is  the  invention  of  Linus  Yale,  Jr.  This  inven- 
tion marked  an  era  in  the  manufacture  of  locks,  substituting 
a  small  fiat  key  and  a  light-weight  lock  for  the  cumbersome 
key  and  heavy  lock  for  the  heaviest  door;  giving  addi- 
tional security  against  burglars,  since  the  key  openings  are 
much  smaller  than  in  the  old  st3de  lock.  This  company's 
vault  door,  with  its  time  and  combination  lock  and  its 
automatic  bolts,  gives  a  large  measure  of  security.  Its 
buildings  cover  twenty  acres,  and  it  employs  fourteen  hun- 
dred operatives. 

The  success  of  the  rubber  industry  is  traced  to  the 
inventive  genius  of  Charles  Goodyear,  who  was  born  in  New 
Haven  in  1800,  was  convinced  of  a  heavenly  call  to  dis- 
cover the  way  to  make  rubber  a  panacea  for  a  thousand 
ills,  and  to  stretch  it  to  cover  a  host  of  needs.  The  prob- 
lem was  to  treat  it  so  that  heat  would  not  soften  it;  while 
experimenting   with  rubber  and    sulphur,   he  accidentally 


o 


00     H 


Inventions,  Discoveries,  Indxxstries         361 

learned  how  to  vulcanize,  and  obtained  his  first  patent  for  it 
in  1844.  He  pursued  his  investigations  amid  discourage- 
ments and  poverty,  and  a  man  who  was  looking  for  him  was 
told,  "If  you  meet  a  man  who  has  on  a  rubber  cap,  coat, 
stock,  vest,  and  shoes,  with  a  rubber  purse  without  a  cent 
in  it,  that  is  the  man."  He  even  suffered  from  the  be- 
nighted law  which  put  a  man  in  jail  for  debt.  It  was  in  the 
winter  of  1839-40,  after  ten  years  of  hardship,  that  he  dis- 
covered the  process  of  vulcanizing,  and  it  came  to  pass  that 
rubber  became  cloth,  parchment,  ebony,  ivory,  shoes,  gloves, 
and  tires,  to  multiply  comforts,  exclude  disease,  cushion  the 
rough  places,  and  ease  pain.  He  died  in  i860,  deeply  in  debt, 
and  some  time  after  his  death  a  verdict  was  given  in  his 
favor  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  for  three  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The  process  of  solidifying 
rubber,  making  it  capable  of  polish,  and  also  of  being 
molded  into  any  desired  form — the  product  called  vulcan- 
ite or  hard  rubber — was  patented  by  Nelson  Goodyear,  a 
brother  of  Charles;  the  discovery  was  accomplished  by 
using  an  increased  amount  of  sulphur,  and  subjecting  the 
compound  to  a  high  temperature.  The  forms  into  which 
rubber  and  its  compounds  are  wrought  are  legion ;  one  of  the 
most  extensive  being  rubber  tires,  of  which  the  Hartford 
Rubber  Works  turns  out  fifteen  hundred  every  day.  In 
1842,  a  manufactory  of  rubber  shoes  was  opened  in  New 
Haven.  In  1847,  the  Haywood  Rubber  Company  was 
organized  at  Colchester,  with  William  A.  Buckingham  in 
charge  of  its  financial  management  until  his  death.  The 
capacity  of  the  plant  of  ten  thousand  pairs  of  rubbers  per 
day — the  largest  manufactory  of  its  kind  in  the  coimtry — 
gave  Connecticut  the  lead  in  that  industry. 

The  manufacture  of  firearms  has  long  been  a  prominent 
industry  of  Connecticut,  and  the  parent  company  was 
organized  by  Eli  Whitney  at  Whitney ville.  In  1858,  this 
was  absorbed  into  the  Winchester  Arms  Company,  of  which 
the  Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Company  is  an  outgrowth. 


362  A.  History  of  Connectic\it 

When  Eli  Whitney  failed  to  gain  the  profits  of  the  cotton- 
gin,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  manufacture  of  arms,  and 
undertook  to  supply  the  government  with  firearms  though 
he  had  no  facilities  for  making  them,  but  he  depended  on 
Yankee  ingenuity  to  devise  machinery  to  make  the  parts  by 
wholesale,  and  the  Whitneyville  factory  was  built.  In  1835- 
36,  Samuel  Colt  perfected  his  patents  in  England  and 
America  for  a  pistol  with  a  rotary  cylinder  containing  several 
chambers  to  discharge  through  a  single  barrel.  The  inven- 
tion of  the  ratchet  came  to  Colt  while  a  boy  of  fifteen,  during 
a  voyage  to  India.  There  was  some  delay  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  this  revolver,  as  the  government  at  first  refused  to 
adopt  the  weapon,  but  its  efficiency  was  demonstrated  in  the 
Mexican  and  Seminole  wars.  In  1848,  a  plant  was  estab- 
lished in  Hartford;  the  business  increased  rapidly  with 
the  opening  of  California  and  orders  from  foreign  countries, 
so  that  in  1858,  sixty  thousand  revolvers  were  made.  In 
1904,  exclusive  of  governmental  establishments,  almost  four- 
fifths  of  the  total  value  of  the  ammunition,  and  over  one- 
fourth  of  the  total  value  of  firearms  manufactured  in  the 
United  States,  were  reported  from  Connecticut,  which  in 
1909,  led  all  the  other  states  in  the  total  value  of  the  products 
of  the  combined  industries. 

The  invention  of  the  sewing-machine  is  traced  to  the 
ingenuity  of  Elias  Howe,  who  was  not  a  native  of  Connecti- 
cut, but  served  as  a  private  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
from  this  state.  Howe  perfected  his  patent  in  1846,  but 
receiving  no  encouragement  here,  went  to  England  to  dispose 
of  his  right  there.  On  his  return  he  found  that  others  had 
taken  up  and  improved  upon  his  invention,  which  made  a 
lock  stitch.  Wheeler  and  Wilson  at  Bridgeport  carried  the 
machine  to  finer  issues,  and  their  works  cover  eight  acres  and 
employ  twelve  hundred  men.  Connecticut  is  exceeded  only 
by  New  Jersey  in  the  manufacture  of  sewing-machines. 

The  woolen  industries  of  the  state  are  extensive,  and  it 
was  largely  through  the  enterprise  of  David  Humphrey 


Eli  Whitney  (1765- 1825) 

From  the  Painting  by  C.  B.  King 


Inventions,  Discoveries,  Industries         363 

that  these  manufactures  were  placed  on  a  solid  basis.  While 
Humphrey  was  a  resident  of  the  Spanish  court,  he  improved 
the  breed  of  native  sheep  by  introducing  Merino  rams,  and, 
in  1805,  he  bought  a  mill  privilege  on  the  Naugatuck  River, 
now  in  the  town  of  Seymour,  where  he  erected  buildings  for 
the  manufacture  of  broadcloth,  incorporating  the  mill  in 
18 12,  making  it  the  best  equipped  mill  in  the  country. 
Before  this,  in  1793,  Arthur  and  John  Scholfield  from  York- 
shire, England,  leased  a  water  privilege  at  Montville,  and 
put  into  operation  the  first  woolen  machinery  in  the  state 
to  run  by  water-power.  The  Middletown  Manufacturing 
Company,  organized  before  the  second  war  with  England, 
was  the  first  mill  in  the  state  to  use  steam  for  manufacturing. 
Other  large  mills  have  been  built  in  Winsted,  Rockville, 
Talcottville,  Putnam,  and  elsewhere,  and  Connecticut  ranks 
fourth  in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods. 

The  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  in  1792,  gave  an  impetus 
to  cotton  manufactures,  and  in  1806,  Samuel  Slater  and 
Ozias  Wilkinson  erected  a  mill  under  the  name  of  the 
Pomfret  Manufacturing  Company.  During  the  next  ten 
years  many  other  cotton  mills  were  built,  wherever  there 
was  a  stream  with  water  enough  to  turn  a  wheel,  and  soon 
Jewett  City,  Sterling,  Plainfield,  Thompson,  Willimantic, 
Killingly  and  Norwich  became  centers  of  the  cotton  indus- 
try. A  modern  triumph  in  the  cotton  manufactures  of  the 
state  is  in  making  thread.  Fifty  years  ago,  the  housewife 
insisted  on  using  foreign  thread,  and  manufacturers  of 
American  thread  were  unable  to  sell  their  products  without 
a  foreign  label,  but  in  1848,  Gardener  Hall  began  the  manu- 
facture of  cotton  thread  at  South  Willington,  and  his  son 
Gardener  invented  a  finishing  machine,  a  tension  regulator 
and  other  valuable  appliances.  In  1854,  the  Willimantic 
Linen  Company  was  organized  by  Hartford  capitalists,  and 
it  was  the  skill  of  that  company  that  removed  the  prejudice 
against  American  thread.  The  ingenuity  and  labor  re- 
quired to  make  a  perfect  six-cord  cotton  are  suggested  by  the 


364  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

statement  that  from  the  time  cotton  is  taken  from  the  bale, 
until  a  finished  article  is  produced,  the  fibers  are  inter- 
combed  over  six  million  times.  There  are  many  cotton  mills 
in  the  state,  which  maintain  its  high  rank  in  textile  indus- 
tries, with  a  total  value  of  products  of  more  than  twenty- 
four  million  dollars  in  1909. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  silkworm  was  cultivated  in  Windham  and  Mans- 
field, under  the  leadership  of  Aspinwall  and  Elderkin,  and 
with  moderate  success.  In  1829,  the  Mansfield  Silk  Company 
built  the  first  manufactory  to  produce  sewing  silk,  and  in 
1836,  Frank  and  Ralph  Cheney  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
largest  silk  industry  in  the  state.  They  began  to  manufac- 
ture at  South  Manchester  silk  thread  from  imported  raw 
material,  and  the  business  was  incorporated  in  1854.  ^''or 
several  years  only  reeled  silk  and  silk  fiber  were  used,  but 
in  1865,  the  company  experimented  in  spun  silk  with  such 
success  that  the  product  in  all  sorts  of  dress  goods,  ribbons, 
satins  and  countless  other  goods  rivals  in  brilliancy  Europe 
and  the  Orient,  and  by  one  process  a  dozen  different  colors 
can  be  put  on  the  same  piece.  There  are  forty-seven  silk 
manufactories  in  the  state,  in  South  Manchester,  Rock- 
ville.  New  London,  Norwich,  and  Winsted,  with  a  total 
product  of  over  twenty-one  million  dollars'  worth  in  1909. 

New  Britain  is  the  center  of  the  hardware  manufacturing 
of  New  England,  and  her  pioneer  was  James  North,  a 
blacksmith,  who  made  brass  buckles,  andirons  and  other 
articles.  His  five  sons  were  taught  different  mechanical 
trades,  and  the  eldest  became  proficient  in  the  manufacture 
of  bells,  clocks,  andirons,  spoons,  and  buckles ;  a  market  was 
sought  in  Albany  and  elsewhere,  and  goods  were  first  carried 
in  saddle-bags.  A  thriving  city  has  grown  up  around  the 
manufactories  of  New  Britain,  which  sends  out  car-loads  of 
the  products  of  her  skill,  extending  from  a  door  hinge  to  an 
automobile.    It  is  called  the  Hardware  City.  ^^,^y\^ 

Litchfield   County  has  been  famous  not  only  for  its 


Inventions,  Discoveries,  Indvistries         365 

theology  and  law,  but  also  for  the  inventiveness  and  enter- 
prise of  its  sons.  Collis  P.  Huntington  of  Torrington  was 
one  of  the  five  men  to  build  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific ;  Junius 
Smith  of  Plymouth  organized  in  London  the  first  company 
to  send  steamships  across  the  Atlantic.  Oliver  Ames,  a 
native  of  Plymouth,  invented  and  manufactured  heavy 
cannon  of  iron  rings  welded  together,  and  these  with  their 
superior  strength,  range,  and  large  projectiles  were  a  de- 
cided advance  on  previous  weapons.  Falls  Village  sup- 
plied the  navy  for  years  with  shot,  shell,  anchors,  and  cables. 
The  Borden  condensed  milk,  which  was  such  a  boon  in  the 
Civil  War,  was  the  invention  of  a  Torrington  man. 

Upon  the  organization  of  the  Federal  Government,  an 
effort  was  made  to  provide  that  inventors  should  receive 
letters  patent  to  entitle  them  to  the  sole  use  of  their  inven- 
tions for  fourteen  years.  The  first  patent  was  granted  to 
Samuel  Hopkins  for  an  improvement  in  pot  and  pearl  ashes. 
This  was  in  1791,  and  the  total  number  issued  that  year  was 
three;  the  next  year  the  cotton-gin  was  patented  by  Eli 
Whitney,  and  it  was  mainly  through  the  exertions  of  Phineas 
Miller  of  Connecticut  that  the  invention  was  brought  to 
the  attention  of  those  interested  in  the  production  of 
cotton.  Miller  becoming  a  partner  of  the  inventor.  It 
was  instantly  infringed  upon  by  people  in  the  cotton  states, 
and  the  partners  made  little  out  of  it.  One  Southerner 
defended  the  infringement  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
of  such  immense  importance  that  no  private  person  had  a 
right  to  a  monopoly  of  it.  In  May,  1809,  Mrs.  Mary  Kies  of 
South  Killingly  invented  a  "new  and  useful  improvement 
in  weaving  straw  with  silk  or  thread,"  for  which  she  obtained 
the  first  patent  issued  in  the  United  States  to  a  woman.  A 
patent  was  issued  to  Charles  Reynolds  of  East  Windsor 
in  181 1,  for  his  invention  for  propelling  carriages  by  steam, 
and  the  following  year  there  were  patents  issued  for  pro- 
cesses in  spinning  and  weaving  wool,  cotton,  flax,  and  hemp, 
also  for  making  boots  and  shoes  with  wooden  pegs  and 


366  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

screws,  an  invention  widely  used.  In  1819,  a  patent  was 
issued  to  John  L.  Welles  of  Hartford  for  the  first  printing- 
press  with  the  long  lever.  In  the  manufacture  of  cottons 
and  woolens  the  invention  of  Gilbert  Brewster  of  Norwich 
gave  him  the  title  of  the  Arkwright  of  America;  his  improve- 
ments were  on  a  wool  spinning-wheel,  a  method  of  receiving 
rolls  and  spindle.  A  power  loom  for  the  weaving  of  checks 
and  plaids,  the  first  American  loom  of  the  kind,  was  the 
invention  of  E.  Burt  of  Manchester.  From  1870,  to  1900, 
in  proportion  to  her  population,  Connecticut  led  all  the  other 
states  in  the  number  of  patents  granted  to  her  citizens,  with 
the  exception  of  three  years  when  she  was  second,  and  the 
names  of  Whitney,  Brewster,  Goodyear,  Colt,  and  Howe 
suggest  the  caliber  of  the  inventors.  A  complete  list  of 
Connecticut  industries  would  require  a  reference  to  bicycles, 
automobiles,  paper,  pianos,  graphophones,  paints,  dye-stuffs, 
belting,  and  an  almost  endless  range  of  Yankee  notions.  The 
state  leads  in  eleven  of  the  ninety-nine  manufactures  classed 
as  leading  industries,  and  in  many  others  she  stands  high. 
The  combination  of  dreaminess,  shrewdness,  ambition, 
practicalness,  and  ingenuity  found  in  the  Connecticut 
Yankee,  together  with  the  harbors,  water-power,  railroads, 
financial  resotuces,  and  nearness  to  large  centers,  has  made 
the  state  noted  for  the  large  variety  of  its  industries.  The 
desire  has  been  strong  to  contrive  a  machine  which  would 
create  a  monopoly  and  make  a  fortune,  and  capital  was 
usually  ready  to  launch  a  promising  invention.  The  tall, 
thin,  clever  workman,  attending  carefully  to  the  task  in 
hand,  and  brooding  over  the  question  how  to  devise  a 
machine  to  multiply  the  product  and  lessen  the  expense,  is 
the  open  secret  of  success  in  the  Connecticut  industries. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
THE  LATER  RELIGIOUS  LIFE 

THE  intense  excitement  of  the  period  of  the  Great 
Awakening,  described  in  an  earHer  chapter,  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  long  season  of  religious  decline.  It  was  enhanced 
by  bitter  wranglings,  intolerance  and  jealousy,  which 
plunged  the  young  fervor  into  an  icy  bath,  followed  by  the 
buffetings,  worries,  and  absorbing  interests  of  the  Revolution. 
In  the  hurly-burly  of  war,  the  march  of  armies,  fears  of  attack, 
anxieties  arising  from  the  fitting  out  of  armies,  heavy  taxa- 
tion, and  forming  a  new  constitution,  it  is  not  strange  that 
religion  suffered.  There  were  many  theologians  in  those 
years,  and  Connecticut  had  more  to  the  square  mile  than 
any  other  state.  The  New  Lights  were  prominent,  and  the 
younger  Edwards,  Hopkins,  Bellamy,  West,  Smalley,  and 
D wight  discussed  the  sovereignty  of  God,  the  divine  decrees 
— extending  even  to  sin — with  a  precision  and  assurance  of 
which  the  angels  might  well  be  proud.  They  taught  that  all 
are  totally  depraved ;  all  acts  before  conversion  are  from  self- 
love,  and  therefore  sinful,  and  that  nothing  is  pleasing  to  God 
but  absolute  submission.  A  test  often  insisted  upon  was, 
"Are  you  willing  to  be  damned  for  the  glory  of  God?"  A 
rigid  path  was  laid  out  in  which  every  one  was  required  to 
walk,  if  he  would  be  saved.  These  statements  seem  hard 
and  the  theology  artificial,  but  as  preached  by  earnest  and 
tender-hearted  men  the  impression  was  searching  and  often 
loving. 

367 


368  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

The  moral  and  religious  condition  of  the  land  was  deplor- 
able, as  the  eighteenth  century  closed;  profanity,  drunken- 
ness, immorality,  and  Sabbath  desecration  prevailed.  At 
the  accession  of  Timothy  Dwight  to  the  presidency  of 
Yale  in  1795,  unbelief  dominated  the  college.  There 
were  societies  whose  members  called  one  another  by  the 
names  of  noted  infidels;  the  college  church  was  almost 
extinct.  Here  is  a  description  of  New  Haven,  when 
Dwight  was  manfully  leading  the  sons  of  Eli  into  a  new 
era  of  faith. 

Darkness  seemed  to  cover  the  church.  The  means  of  grace  were 
little  valued ;  public  peace  was  broken  by  disorderly  and  riotous 
conduct.  Our  midnight  slumbers  were  disturbed  by  obscene 
songs  and  drunken  revels.  The  laws  were  trampled  on  with 
seeming  impunity.  Magistrates  were  defied  and  abashed.  The 
holy  Sabbath  was  violated  palpably  and  openly.  Vain  amuse- 
ments, gaming,  wantonness,  and  midnight  carousing  predomi- 
nated. So  hardened,  so  bold,  so  daring  were  the  sons  of  Belial 
that  the  most  solemn  scenes  were  exhibited  in  mockery,  and  the 
darkest  symptom  of  all  was  this  that  the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  all 
the  while  asleep. 

Similar  are  the  mournful  accounts  of  Glastonbury :  "  impene- 
trable gloom  .  .  .  house  of  God  in  great  measure  forsaken 
.  .  .  family  worship  neglected  and  experimental  religion 
by  many  treated  with  contempt,"  are  terms  used.  In 
Lebanon  conditions  were  gloomy: 

errors  and  immorality  gained  ground.  To  many  who  professed  to 
believe  the  Scriptures,  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  religion  were 
disgustful.  Family  religion  was  very  unfashionable.  The  house  of 
God  was  much  forsaken  on  the  Sabbath,  and  when  a  lecture  was 
preached  on  another  day,  the  preacher  saw  little  else  than  empty 
pews.  Youth  spent  much  time  at  balls,  which  were  encouraged 
by  many  of  the  old.  It  seemed  that  unless  God  should  interpose, 
the  love  of  the  blessed  Jesus  would  very  soon  cease  to  be  publicly 


TKe  Later  Religious  Life  369 

commemorated,  and  the  enemies  of  God  would  soon  rejoice  in 
the  extirpation  of  even  the  forms  of  reHgion : 

Such  accounts  as  these  could  be  given  of  many  other  towns. 
Another  depressing  element  in  the  condition  of  affairs 
was  the  use  of  intoxicants:  ordinations,  church-dedications, 
donation-parties,  and  pastoral  calls  were  scarcely  sacred  with- 
out the  beloved  flip;  barn-raisings,  corn-huskings  and  elec- 
tions were  lacking  in  charm  if  Santa  Cruz  did  not  preside. 
Perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  illustration  of  the  condition 
that  prevailed  was  the  fact  that,  during  1790-96,  Nathan 
Strong,  successor  of  Thomas  Hooker,  and  pastor  of  the  First 
Church  of  Christ  of  Hartford,  carried  on  a  distillery,  in 
partnership  with  Reuben  Smith,  his  brother-in-law,  within 
sixty  rods  of  the  door  of  the  foremost  church  in  Connecticut. 
Records  of  the  city  show  some  twenty  transfers  of  real  estate, 
involving  more  than  thirty  thousand  dollars,  bought  and 
sold  by  Strong  and  Smith,  the  pastor's  name  taking  the 
priority  in  the  deeds.  There  were  also  transfers  of  vats, 
stills,  and  cooper  shops,  indicating  a  large  business.  A  story 
has  come  floating  down  the  century  of  a  sharp  little  sparring 
match  between  the  pastors  of  West  Hartford,  Hartford,  and 
East  Hartford,  which  reached  its  climax  in  the  declaration 
of  the  keenest  of  the  three  reverend  saints,  who  said  that 
one  raised  the  rye,  the  second  distilled  it  into  whiskey,  and 
the  third  drank  it.  It  would  be  safe  to  say  that  they  all 
drank  it.  From  1797,  there  was  a  change:  President  D wight 
preached  that  series  of  sermons  which  revolutionized  Yale; 
there  was  no  great  evangelist  like  Whitefield,  but  in  many 
of  the  churches  there  were  revivals,  at  intervals  for  sixty 
years.  Says  Dr.  GrifBn,  the  revival  "swept  from  New  Eng- 
land its  looseness  of  doctrine  and  laxity  of  discipline,  and 
awoke  an  evangelical  pulse  in  every  vein  of  the  American 
church."  The  Connecticut  Home  Missionary  Society 
was  organized  in  1798.  As  early  as  1793,  nine  pastors  were 
sent  out  for  four  months  to  work  in  the  new  settlements  of 
24 


370  -A  History  of  Connecticvit 

Vermont  and  New  York,  and  in  1798,  Connecticut  led  all 
the  other  states  in  organizing  for  home  missions.  Massa- 
chusetts followed  her  example  the  next  year,  and  into  the 
wilds  of  New  York,  Ohio,  Vermont  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee  the  missionaries  made  their  way.      In 

1807,  the  Connecticut  Religious  Tract  Society  was  formed 
at  Hartford.  The  New  Divinity  doctrine  of  benevolence 
was  working. 

Soon  theological  seminaries  were  formed  to  give  a  more 
systematic  and  thorough  training  for  young  ministers  than 
could  be  secured  from  ministers,  however  able:  Andover  in 

1808,  Yale  in  1822,  East  Windsor  (now  Hartford)  in  1834. 
The  last  vestiges  of  the  Half-way  Covenant  were  swept  away ; 
temperance  received  a  powerful  impulse;  Hopkins,  the 
theologian  of  the  movement,  was  an  out-and-out  temperance 
advocate.  The  new  century  came  in  with  such  a  momentum 
of  spiritual  power  that  while  the  population  increased  enor- 
mously in  a  hundred  years,  church  membership  increased 
three  times  as  fast.  The  religious  experiences  were  usually 
accompanied  by  fearful  self-examination  and  torturing 
anxiety,  which  often  continued  for  months  or  even  years. 
No  conversion  was  regarded  as  sound  which  was  not  deep 
and  heart-rending.  An  easy  macadam  into  the  Kingdom 
had  not  been  discovered.     A  favorite  hymn  was  this: 

My  thoughts  on  awful  subjects  roll, 
Damnation  and  the  dead. 

An  important  phase  of  the  awakening  activities  was  the 
attention  given  by  the  churches  to  Bible  study,  especially 
among  the  young.  On  April  8,  18 18,  the  four  churches 
of  Hartford  united  to  organize  a  Sunday-school  society: 
adopting  means  for  the  efficient  organization  of  schools  in 
each  church,  and  soon  the  movement  spread  through  the 
state.  About  that  time  the  churches  began  to  have  prayer- 
meetings  to  feed  their  social  and  spiritual  life ;  family  prayer 


First  Church,  Hartford 

The  building  with  its  Christopher  Wren  spire  was  erected  in  1807.     The  church  was 

organized  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1633,  with  Thomas  Hooker,  Pastor  and 

Samuel  Stone,  Teacher 


THe  Later  Religious  Life  371 

was  restored;  the  catechism  resumed  its  sway,  and  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath,  which  from  the  first  had  been  compul- 
sory, took  hold  of  the  conscience  afresh.  Horace  Bushnell, 
in  describing  this  period  half  a  century  later,  said: 

If  they  believed  it  to  be  more  scriptural  to  begin  their  Sunday 
at  sunset  on  Saturday,  it  was  sundown  at  sundown,  not  some- 
where between  that  time  and  the  next  morning.  Thus,  being 
dispatched,  when  a  lad,  one  Saturday  afternoon  in  the  winter, 
to  bring  home  a  few  bushels  of  apples  engaged  of  a  farmer  a 
mile  distant,  I  remember  how  the  careful,  exact  man  looked 
first  at  the  clock,  then  out  of  the  window  at  the  sun,  and  turn- 
ing to  me  said,  "I  can  not  measure  out  the  apples  in  time  for 
you  to  get  home  before  sundown,  you  must  come  again  Monday." 

Deacons  volunteered  to  aid  the  constables  in  enforcing 
the  law  against  Sunday  travel,  and  stationed  themselves 
on  the  highway  to  intercept  travellers  who  ventured  to 
go  from  town  to  town  without  a  permit  from  a  justice 
of  the  peace.  A  man  on  one  of  the  river  towns  began 
the  process  of  domestic  barbering  too  late  one  Saturday; 
tough  beard  and  dull  razor  were  too  much;  the  sun  went 
down  on  a  face  half-shaven,  but  conscience  won,  and  a  man 
was  seen  in  church  the  next  day  with  a  muffler  around  his 
face.  Boys  could  walk  in  one  of  three  directions  in  the 
sacred  hours — to  church,  to  the  pasture  for  the  cows,  and  to 
the  graveyard.  Careful  mothers  felt  that  a  more  saintly 
atmosphere  enveloped  their  children  when  they  refrained 
from  whistling  or  similar  worldly  pleasures  on  the  Lord's  day. 
A  man  living  under  a  hill  in  Hartford  County  started  on  a 
journey  after  sundown  on  a  Sunday,  and  on  reaching  the 
upland  and  finding  the  sun  above  the  horizon  he  paused 
until  the  day  was  over.  We  naturally  expect  this  strictness 
to  find  expression  in  law,  and  in  18 14,  it  was  enacted  that 
there  should  be  no  travel  on  Sunday  between  sunrise  and 
sunset,  except  for  necessity  or  mercy,  under  penalty  of 
twenty  dollars.     In  1838,  there  was  passed  a  statute  which 


372  i\  History  of  Connecticvit 

was  a  mild  affirmation  of  earlier  laws.  This  law  directed 
that  there  should  be  no  work  performed,  except  for  necessity 
or  mercy,  and  tithing  men  were  to  be  appointed  in  every 
town  to  help  the  constables  in  the  execution  of  this  vague  but 
usually  stringent  requirement.  The  earlier  law  of  1702, 
went  into  particulars,  declaring  that  "every  person  who 
should  travel  or  do  any  secular  business  or  labor,  except 
works  of  necessity  or  mercy,  or  keep  open  any  shop,  ware- 
house, or  manufacturing  establishment,  or  engage  in  any 
sport  or  recreation  on  Sunday,  between  sunrise  and  sunset," 
should  be  fined  from  one  dollar  to  four  dollars,  unless  he  were 
a  hay  ward,  in  which  case  the  law  gave  him  the  privilege  of 
following  his  own  judgment.  The  law  of  1784,  ordered  that 
every  person  who  was  present  at  any  concert  or  gathering 
for  diversion  on  Sunday,  whether  before  sundown  or  after, 
should  pay  a  four-dollar  fine.  In  1872,  it  was  ordered  that 
between  twelve  Saturday  night  and  the  same  hour  Sunday 
night  no  room  should  be  kept  open  for  sports,  games  of 
chance,  and  intoxicants  under  penalty  of  forty  dollars.  A 
resolute  but  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  in  191 1,  to 
remove  from  the  statutes  the  Sunday  rest  laws.  There  was 
passed  a  measure  which  declared  that  it  is  unlawful,  except 
in  an  emergency,  to  require  a  person  to  work  on  Sunday, 
unless  relieved  for  one  whole  day  during  the  six  days  fol- 
lowing,— a  law  which  does  not  apply  to  druggists,  watchmen, 
janitors,  or  newspaper  men.  At  the  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  19 13,  it  was  voted  to  allow  the  commissioners 
of  public  parks  to  grant  permits  for  amateur  sports  on 
Sunday.  Another  indication  of  the  changes  going  on  in  the 
opinions  and  convictions  of  the  people  is  found  in  the  laws 
concerning  lotteries.  In  the  earlier  years,  the  General 
Assembly  often  gave  permission  for  lotteries  to  build  roads, 
bridges,  lighthouses  and  churches.  In  contrast  with  the 
lottery  to  erect  the  famous  Bulfinch  State  House,  was  a 
bill  passed  in  1828,  forbidding  lotteries,  under  penalty  of 
a  fine  of   from    twenty  to  fifty  dollars.     In    1830,  selling 


TKe  Later  Religiovis  Life  373 

lottery  tickets  was  prohibited,  under  penalty  of  a  fine  of 
from  fifty  to  three  hundred  dollars,  or  from  two  months  to 
a  year  in  jail.  Games  of  chance  were  also  prohibited.  In 
1834,  lotteries  were  again  prohibited,  and  the  sale  of  lottery 
tickets  pronounced  illegal,  under  a  penalty  of  a  fine  of  not  over 
three  hundred  dollars,  or  jail  for  ninety  days.  In  1803, 
it  was  made  illegal  to  bet  on  a  horse  race,  the  penalty  being 
from  ten  to  fifty  dollars.  In  1869,  gambling  on  steamboats 
and  railroad  trains  was  prohibited,  and  two  years  later, 
gambling  houses  were  declared  illegal.  In  1839,  the  circus 
was  declared  to  be  a  public  nuisance  by  the  Connecticut 
statutes. 

There  were  noted  revivals  in  several  years,  such  as 
1 82 1,  1 83 1,  1837,  1857,  after  which  followed  the  engrossing 
and  exciting  years  of  the  Civil  War;  and  after  that  came 
changes  in  commercial  and  social  life  attending  the  rapid 
increase  of  wealth,  the  swift  invasion  of  thousands  from 
Europe,  the  passing  of  the  center  of  gravity  from  country 
to  village  and  city,  higher  criticism,  with  a  dismissal  of 
older  views  of  verbal  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  together 
with  the  rise  of  perplexities  concerning  the  balancing  inter- 
ests of  capital  and  labor.  The  Litchfield  Beechers,  Lyman 
and  Henry  Ward,  have  done  much  to  make  clear  a  consistent 
view  of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  and  the  Moody  and  Sankey 
revivals  of  the  seventies  gave  many  people  a  fresh  idea  of  a 
method  of  becoming  a  Christian  without  the  protracted  and 
tedious  distress  of  earlier  times.  It  is  too  early  to  give  a 
clear  estimate  of  the  religious  life  of  recent  years,  which  seems 
to  some  superficial,  to  many,  more  practical  than  spir- 
itual, and  more  rational  than  the  Christianity  of  any 
earlier  time  since  the  settlers  reached  the  Connecticut. 

Evidently  the  Puritans  of  two  centuries  ago  would  be  as 
much  astonished  at  the  types  of  religion  and  theology  now 
prevailing  as  with  the  wonders  wrought  by  steam  and  elec- 
tricity, and  it  is  not  easy  to  present  the  views  of  to-day  in  a 
way  to  make  current  theology  feel  at  home  with  that  of 


374  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

Hooker  and  Bellamy;  but  it  is  more  cheerful,  and  the  ebb 
and  flow  of  religious  earnestness  does  not  necessarily  mean 
ultimate  loss;  the  rhythmic  movement  may  turn  out  to  be  a 
spiral  whose  goal  shall  be  good.  Benevolence,  whether  we 
call  it  Hopkinsian  or  simply  Christian,  was  a  marked  feature 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  issuing  in  a  brotherliness  which, 
after  its  fearful  baptism  in  blood,  wrought  more  effectively 
than  at  any  other  period  since  apostolic  days.  The  sover- 
eignty of  God  may  have  been  of  late  too  much  in  the  back- 
ground, but  it  is  refreshing  to  find  increasing  attention  to  the 
alphabet  of  human  brotherhood. 


Henry  Ward  Beecher  (1813-1887) 

From  a  Photograph  by  Sarony,  X.  Y. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII   , 
THE  ANTI-SLAVERY  MOVEMENT  IN  CONNECTICUT 

THE  question  arises  in  the  mind  of  one  who  wishes  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  history  of  this  state: 
What  about  the  anti-slavery  movement?  Were  the  people 
too  busy  with  their  rapidly  growing  industries  to  take  a  deep 
interest  in  a  struggle  with  the  national  curse?  We  have  seen 
in  an  earlier  chapter  that  for  more  than  two  hundred  years, 
slavery  was  practiced  in  Connecticut.  It  reached  its  cul- 
mination in  1774,  when  there  were  191,448  whites,  and 
6562  blacks,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  slaves.  In  1774,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  first  action  was  taken  against  slavery,  in 
the  law  prohibiting  further  importation  of  negroes  into  the 
colony.  In  1800,  there  were  245,631  whites,  4331  blacks, 
and  931  slaves;  and  in  1840,  there  were  seventeen  slaves.  It 
was  found  that  slavery  was  not  only  unprofitable  as  a  buvsi- 
ness  enterprise,  but  the  negroes  were  becoming  prominent 
in  the  criminal  class;  in  1822,  one-fourth  ot  the  prisoners  at 
Newgate  were  black;  in  1828,  one  out  of  thirty-four  of  the 
population  was  black,  and  one  in  three  of  the  convicts  was 
a  negro,  so  that  there  was  ten  times  as  much  crime  among 
the  blacks  as  among  whites. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  attitude  of  Samuel 
Hopkins  and  others  toward  slavery,  and  as  the  eighteenth 
century  drew  toward  its  close  the  abolition  movement  gained 
momentum.  In  1790,  the  Connecticut  Anti-Slavery  Society 
was  formed,  with  President  Ezra  Stiles  of  Yale  College  as  its 

375 


376  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

president.  In  1791,  this  society  made  an  appeal  to  Congress 
for  action  on  the  subject,  and  the  same  year  Jonathan 
Edwards  the  younger  said  before  the  Connecticut  Society: 

Every  man  who  cannot  show  that  his  negro  hath  by  his  voluntary 
conduct  forfeited  his  liberty,  is  obliged  immediately  to  manumit 
him.  .  .  .  To  hold  a  man  in  a  state  of  slavery,  who  has  a  right 
to  his  liberty,  is  to  be  everyday  guilty  of  robbing  him  of  his 
liberty,  or  of  man-stealing,  and  it  is  a  greater  sin  in  the  sight  of 
God  than  concubinage  or  fornication. 

Wilson  says  in  his  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power: 
Edwards  "clearly  promulgated  the  duty  of  immediate 
emancipation  as  distinctly  as  it  was  ever  enunciated  before 
or  since."  When  it  was  proposed  in  Congress  to  lay  a  duty 
upon  negroes,  Roger  Sherman  said  he  "could  not  reconcile 
himself  to  the  insertion  of  human  beings  as  subjects  of 
import  among  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise,"  and  Roger 
Griswold  took  the  same  position.  At  the  first  annual  con- 
vention of  the  anti-slavery  societies,  1794,  Uriah  Tracy  was 
present  from  Connecticut,  and  in  the  convention  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  Connecticut  was  represented  by  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards, Jr.,  Uriah  Tracy,  and  Zephaniah  Swift;  Edwards 
being  chairman  of  the  business  committee.  Early  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  colonization  plan  came  to  the  front, 
not  to  suppress  the  slave  trade  or  abolish  slavery,  but  to 
establish  a  colony  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  whither  negroes 
could  return.  This  scheme  was  not  so  much  a  plaster  on 
the  open  sore,  as  a  mild  sedative  to  the  consciences  of  those 
who  thought  that  something  ought  to  be  done.  There  was 
always  a  strong  element  in  the  state  that  opposed  slavery; 
in  1806-7,  when  Southerners  sneered  at  the  opposition  of  the 
North  to  the  slave  trade,  Mosley  of  Connecticut  said  that  if 
any  of  his  section  were  convicted  of  being  in  the  business,  his 
constituents  would  thank  the  South  for  hanging  them.  In 
1 8 18,  when  a  bill  to  enforce  the  fugitive-slave  law  was  under 
debate  in  Congress,  Williams  of  Connecticut  opposed  a  clause 


TKe  Anti-Slavery  Movement  377 

permitting  freemen  to  be  dragged  to  another  part  of  the 
country  for  trial. 

There  were  two  significant  laws  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature at  the  time  when  the  question  of  the  fugitive-slave 
law  was  disturbing  the  minds  of  many;  one  was  a  bill 
providing  for  a  jury  trial  for  alleged  fugitives,  and  the 
other  was  a  law  which  forbade  any  of  the  state  officials  to 
take  part  in  fugitive-slave  cases.  The  former  suggests  the 
sense  of  justice  of  the  average  citizen,  the  other  a  disposition 
to  hold  aloof  from  meddling, — that  wariness  that  had  such 
abundant  illustration  in  affairs  with  Indians  and  royalist 
officers.  In  1833,  the  New  Haven  Anti-Slavery  Society  was 
founded — one  of  the  first  societies  in  the  country,  based  on 
the  principle  of  immediate  and  unconditional  abolition.  It 
sent  greetings  to  the  old  Pennsylvania  abolition  society,  and 
received  a  cordial  response.  Among  the  leading  spirits  in 
the  state  were  two  ministers,  S.  J.  May  and  Simeon  E. 
Jocelyn;  both  of  these  being  members  of  the  famous 
anti-slavery  convention  in  Philadelphia  in  December,  1833, 
and  among  the  sixty-two  signers  of  the  momentous  dec- 
laration of  that  convention.  The  Rev.  Samuel  J.  May 
was  pastor  of  the  Unitarian  church  in  Brooklyn,  a  born 
reformer  and  instrumental  in  forming  The  Windham  County 
Peace  Society  in  1826. 

During  the  violent  agitation  through  the  state,  the  Christ- 
ian Freeman,  a  newspaper  in  the  interests  of  anti-slavery,  was 
started  in  1836,  in  Hartford,  and  from  1840,  the  opposition  to 
slavery  increased  in  the  state,  despite  the  conservatism  of  the 
manufacturers  and  traders,  whose  business  relations  with  the 
South  were  important.  In  1845,  the  AboHtion  or  Liberty  party 
nominated  a  full  state  and  congressional  ticket,  though  four 
years  before,  the  ticket  had  appeared  in  the  state.  In  1844, 
Governor  Sherman  Baldwin  asked  the  General  Assembly: 

Is  it  not  time  that  every  vestige  of  a  system  founded  in  injustice 
and  fraud,  and  incapable  of  being  supported  except  by  the  pro- 


37^  -A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

visions  of  a  positive  law,  should  be  effaced  from  our  statute  book? 
Ought  our  judges  any  longer  to  be  constrained  to  withhold  their 
authoritative  declaration  that  here  also,  as  in  other  free  states  of 
the  North,  man  may  be  the  owner  but  cannot  be  the  subject 
of  property?  .  .  .  I  deem  it  worthy  of  the  consideration  of  the 
General  Assembly,  whether  the  right  of  voting  in  town  meetings 
ought  not  to  be  restored  to  our  colored  citizens,  as  they  formerly 
enjoyed  it  when  possessed  of  the  same  qualifications  which  con- 
fer the  right  on  other  citizens  who  are  not  electors  of  the  state, 
and  whether  it  is  consistent  with  the  great  principles  maintained 
by  our  fathers  in  the  Revolutionary  constitution  to  subject  them 
to  state  taxation  as  long  as  they  are  excluded  by  the  constitution 
from  the  right  of  suffrage. 

The  legislature  granted  exemption  from  taxation.  After 
Governor  Baldwin  had  entered  the  United  States  Senate, 
his  first  address  there  was  in  June,  1848,  when  he  discussed 
the  bill  for  the  admission  of  Oregon  as  a  state.  Oregon  had 
adopted  a  law  forever  prohibiting  slavery,  and  the  question 
in  Congress  was  whether  the  bill  to  admit  Oregon  could  be 
ratified.  Baldwin  said  that  Congress  had  exercised  that 
power  since  the  origin  of  the  government,  and  it  was  at 
liberty  to  take  any  action  it  chose  according  to  its  judgment 
of  what  would  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  territory. 
When  the  question  concerning  slavery  in  California  came 
before  the  senate,  Baldwin  moved  that  the  people  of  the 
ceded  territory  should  remain  in  general  under  their  existing 
laws,  which  prohibited  slavery.  For  years  the  Free  Soil 
party  had  a  separate  state  ticket,  though  it  polled  but  few 
votes,  and  many  of  the  Whigs  were  with  that  party  in 
opposition  to  slavery.  Baldwin  was  a  Whig,  and  the  Free 
Soilers  always  opposed  him;  in  the  legislature  that  was  to 
elect  his  successor,  the  more  radical  anti-slavery  men  held 
the  balance  of  power.  After  his  nomination  by  the  Whigs, 
he  was  asked  for  a  written  statement  of  his  views  on  the 
exciting  topic  and  he  refused  to  give  it,  declaring  that  it  was 
beneath  the  dignity  of  a  senator  to  make  a  pledge,  and  as  a 


Roger  S.  Baldwin  (1793-1863) 

From  a  reproduction  by  Randall.      From  The  Connecticut  Magazine,  vol.  vii 


TKe  Anti-Slavery  Movement  379 

result  he  failed  of  election, — a  misfortune  and  serious  loss,  for 
Sherman  Baldwin  was  the  ablest  lawyer  in  the  state,  and  in 
the  judgment  of  a  high  authority,  the  ablest  lawyer  who  ever 
practiced  in  Connecticut.  He  joined  in  the  movement  to 
form  the  Republican  party,  and  was  one  of  the  electoral 
college  from  Connecticut,  which  cast  the  vote  for  Lincoln 
in  i860.  He  was  a  tall  man  of  imposing  presence,  and  the 
blue  coat  with  gilt  buttons  and  buff  vest,  suggestive  of  the 
sterling  colonial  days,  formed  a  fitting  garb  for  this  powerful 
figure  in  American  politics.  John  Brown,  born  in  Torring- 
ton,  hated  slavery,  for  whose  abolition  he  felt  called;  joined 
the  battle  in  Kansas,  brought  his  work  to  a  head  at  Har- 
pers Ferry  in  1859,  and  went  to  the  gallows  disappointed, 

His  soul  goes  marching  on. 

Influential  was  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  whose  famous  novel, 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  was  a  decided  force  in  creating  feeling 
leading  toward  emancipation.  Litchfield  was  the  birthplace 
also,  as  we  notice  in  the  chapter  on  literature,  of  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  whose  services  on  platform  and  in  the  pulpit 
for  freedom  were  in  the  same  class  of  power  and  efficiency 
with  those  of  his  sister,  the  creator  of  Uncle  Tom. 

Though  Connecticut  was  opposed  to  war,  and  the  General 
Assembly  passed  resolutions  deploring  its  necessity,  urging 
that  philanthropic  efforts  be  made  to  secure  peace,  it 
censured  the  state  delegation  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
as  well  as  Senator  J.  M.  Niles,  for  voting  for  the  admission 
of  Texas  as  a  slave  state,  as  being  in  opposition  to  the  wishes 
of  the  majority  of  the  freemen  of  the  state ;  the  censure  was 
especially  severe  in  judgment  on  their  delinquent  senator, 
claiming  that  his  vote  was  the  deciding  one.  In  1847,  by  a 
vote  of  more  than  three  to  one,  the  state  refused  to  amend  the 
constitution  by  eliminating  white  before  male  persons,  yet 
a  strong  anti-slavery  sentiment  was  growing,  and  among  her 
sons  Henry  B.  Stanton,  John  Pierson,  Henry  Foster,  John 
W.  Creed  and  others  worked    shoulder  to  shoulder  with 


380  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

Garrison  and  Sumner.  The  fugitive-slave  cases  were  fought 
obstinately  in  the  courts  and  won  for  freedom.  While 
colonization  was  thought  good  for  negroes,  it  was  popular 
in  the  state,  and  when  the  Republican  party  came  forward 
in  1856,  Connecticut  gave  Fremont  42,715  votes,  Buchanan 
34,495  and  Fillmore  2,615.  It  is  probable  that  the  chronic 
conservatism  of  the  state,  together  with  the  caution  naturally 
fostered  by  the  fact  that  Connecticut  was  deeply  interested 
in  the  thousand  million  dollars'  worth  of  goods  which  the 
North  sent  annually  to  the  South,  worked  to  promote  a  wari- 
ness which  we  do  not  now  applaud.  As  we  shall  see  in  the 
chapter  on  the  Civil  War,  when  the  struggle  came,  Connecti- 
cut, with  her  great  Governor  Buckingham,  was  second  to 
no  other  state  in  the  long  conflict.  When  the  call  came 
for  men,  armed  and  well  equipped,  she  rang  true;  and  while 
idealism  and  passion  for  reform  were  not  brilliant  before  the 
war,  when  the  contest  was  inevitable,  and  the  sword  had  to 
be  drawn,  the  state  was  firm,  level-headed,  and  patriotic. 


C       n, 
3      O 

<:    a 


o 


,<u    w 


W 


'-'     E 


o 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
CONNECTICUT  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

AS  we  have  seen  and  as  we  might  expect,  Connecticut  was 
not  clamorous  for  the  war,  and  hardly  believed  a 
struggle  possible  until  the  first  gun  was  fired,  but  when  the 
contest  came  on,  and  Lincoln  called  for  soldiers,  the  state 
turned  at  once  from  shop  and  farm  and  was  soon  ready  for 
battle.  I^was  well  that  a  man  of  the  caliber  of  William  A. 
Buckingham  was  governor — a  worthy  successor  of  Governor 
Trumbull.  On  January  17,  1861,  he  issued  his  proclama- 
tion to  the  militia  of  the  state,  warning  the  men  that  they 
were  liable  to  be  called  out  at  any  moment,  urging  them  to 
be  "ready  to  render  such  service  as  any  emergency  might 
demand";  on  his  own  responsibility  he  ordered  the  quarter- 
master to  buy  equipment  for  five  thousand  men,  a  resource 
of  decided  value  when  the  call  came  three  months  later  for 
troops. 

The  news  that  Sumter  had  fallen  reached  Connecticut 
on  Sundaj'-  morning  April  13,  and  on  Monday  morning  came 
the  president's  proclamation,  calling  for  seventy-five  thousand 
troops  for  three  months;  the  quota  of  Connectictit  was  one 
regiment.  When  it  was  found  that  the  law  did  not  empower 
the  governor  to  order  a  regiment  of  militia  out  of  the  state, 
Buckingham  on  his  own  responsibility  called  for  a  regiment 
to  be  made  up  of  volunteers.  Three  regiments  were  quickly 
formed,  but  it  was  only  by  the  personal  influence  of  the 
governor,  who  went  at  once  to  Washington,  that  the  second 

381 


382  A  History  of  Connecticut 

and  third  regiments  were  allowed  to  go  to  the  field.  Mass 
meetings  were  held  all  over  the  state;  in  Brooklyn,  Windham 
County,  sixty  men  enlisted  in  thirty  minutes;  in  Norwich, 
the  five  sons  of  Jared  Dennis  enlisted;  Winsted  claims  the 
first  enlistment — Samuel  Home,  a  youth  of  seventeen.  On 
that  strenuous  Monday  morning,  April  14,  there  met  in  the 
office  of  the  Hartford  Press,  with  Joseph  R.  Hawley  its  editor, 
Albert  W.  Drake  and  Joseph  Perkins;  the  three  signed  as 
volunteers,  and  by  night  the  company  was  full,  with  Hawley 
as  first  lieutenant,  soon  to  be  captain,  then  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Seventh,  and  afterwards  brigadier-general. 
The  town  meeting  came  into  play ;  all  over  the  state,  money 
was  voted  to  meet  the  crisis,  to  support  the  families  of  volun- 
teers, and  to  insure  a  prompt  response  to  the  governor's 
call.  When  the  legislature  met  in  May,  it  ratified  the  action 
of  the  governor,  and  appropriated  two  million  dollars  for 
military  expenses.  Extra  pay,  to  the  amount  of  thirty 
dollars  a  year,  was  voted  to  every  enlisted  man  during  the 
war,  besides  six  dollars  per  month  for  the  wife  and  two 
dollars  for  every  child  under  fourteen. 

It  was  May  13,  when  the  First  Connecticut  Regiment 
reached  Washington,  and  it  was  ready  for  battle  with  fifty 
thousand  pounds  of  ammunition  and  guns  of  the  latest 
pattern.  It  had  more  transportation  than  all  the  other 
regiments  in  the  capital  combined,  and  on  the  day  of  its 
arrival,  its  teams  were  borrowed  by  the  government.  Gen- 
eral Scott  exclaimed,  "Thank  God,  we  have  one  regiment 
ready  to  take  the  field;  Colonel  Tyler  was  prepared  not  only 
for  a  battle,  but  for  a  campaign."  The  Second  Regiment 
under  Colonel  Alfred  E.  Terry  followed  the  next  day  with 
officers  well  trained  in  the  state  militia.  The  New  Haven 
Grays,  the  Mansfield  Guards  of  Middletown  and  the  Na- 
tional Guard  of  Birmingham  were  favorite  militia  companies. 
The  Third  went  two  weeks  later,  all  three  regiments 
were  brigaded  under  General  Tyler,  and  much  of  the  effi- 
ciency of  Connecticut  troops  through  the  war  was  due  to  the 


Gen.  Joseph  R.  Hawley    (1826-1905),   Governor  and   Senator 

From   a    Photograph 


Connecticut  in  tKe  Civil  "War  383 

thorough  drill  of  that  able  and  conscientious  officer.  This 
brigade  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  leading  the 
advance,  opening  the  battle,  and  covering  the  retreat.  When 
they  marched  back  to  their  quarters  in  Washington,  they 
carried  their  own  camp  equipage  in  perfect  condition,  and 
also  the  camp  equipage  of  three  other  regiments,  which  they 
found  abandoned,  also  two  pieces  of  artillery,  left  by  panic- 
stricken  men.  Said  Stedman  in  the  New  York  World, 
"The  Connecticut  Brigade  was  the  last  to  leave  the  field 
at  Bull  Run,  and  by  hard  fighting  had  to  defend  itself  and  to 
protect  our  scattered  thousands  for  several  miles  of  the 
retreat." 

The  first  general  to  fall  in  the  war  was  General  Nathanael 
Lyon,  a  native  of  Ashford,  graduate  of  West  Point  and  soldier 
in  Mexico  and  California.  All  eyes  turned  to  the  border 
states  when  the  war  opened,  and  Captain  Lyon,  who  was  in 
charge  of  the  United  States  Arsenal  at  St.  Louis,  gathered 
some  troops  and  attacked  Governor  Jackson  so  vehemently 
that  he  captured  twelve  hundred  Confederates  in  half  an 
hour.  When  Jackson  called  on  all  "loyal  Missourians  to  rally 
to  the  flag  of  the  state,"  Lyon,  already  brigadier-general, 
responded,  started  for  the  capital  with  three  thousand 
troops,  drove  Jackson  from  the  city,  and  pursuing,  de- 
feated him,  then  marched  toward  Springfield.  Two  deep 
rivers  were  in  his  way,  but  he  marched  two  hundred  miles 
in  eleven  days,  covering  the  last  fifty  miles  in  twenty-four 
hours.  General  Fremont  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
Union  army  of  Missouri,  and  failed  to  reinforce  Lyon,  who 
was  threatened  by  a  large  force  of  the  enemy  under  Price 
and  McCullough;  in  a  night  attack,  Lyon,  with  five  thou- 
sand men,  met  twenty-three  thousand,  in  one  of  the  fiercest 
battles  of  the  war;  during  six  hours  the  men  returning 
repeatedly  to  the  charge,  driving  the  enemy  before  them 
every  time,  though  gradually  losing  large  numbers.  Lyon's 
horse  was  shot  under  him,  and  he  was  wounded  three  times. 
With  the  cry,  "Come  on,  my  brave  men!     I  will  lead  you!" 


384  A  History  of  Connecticut 

he  led  the  last  charge,  and  fell.  No  one  could  rouse  the 
soldiers  as  he,  and  with  his  death  the  hope  of  victory  vanished. 
The  body  was  left  on  the  field,  but  was  recovered,  and  on 
the  homeward  route  to  Ashford,  it  lay  in  state  in  St.  Louis, 
Cincinnati,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Hartford.  No  less 
an  authority  than  General  Sherman  gave  this  tribute  to 
General  Lyon: 

He  was  the  first  man  in  this  country  that  seized  the  whole  ques- 
tion, and  took  the  initiative,  and  determined  to  strike  a  blow, 
and  not  wait  for  the  blow  to  be  struck.  That  he  did  not  succeed 
at  Wilson's  Creek  was  no  fault  of  his,  but  the  result  of  causes 
which  he  could  not  control.  The  act  itself  was  as  pure  and  god- 
like as  any  that  ever  characterized  a  soldier  on  the  field  of  battle. 
I  wish  he  could  have  lived ;  for  he  possessed  many  of  those  quali- 
ties which  were  needed  in  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  the  war, 
and  his  death  imposed  on  the  nation  a  penalty  numbered  by 
thousands  on  thousands  of  lives,  and  millions  on  millions  of  dollars. 

Colonel  Ellsworth,  the  first  to  fall  in  the  war,  losing  his 
life  while  hauling  down  a  rebel  flag  in  Alexandria,  was  a 
grandson  of  Connecticut,  his  father  having  gone  from  Hart- 
ford to  Michigan.  At  the  skirmish  at  Big  Bethel,  Theodore 
Winthrop,  a  descendant  of  Governor  Winthrop,  a  brilliant 
man  and  brave  soldier,  fell  while  cheering  his  fellow-soldiers 
to  victory.  The  death  of  another  hero  sent  a  thrill  of  pain 
through  the  state  when  Captain  James  H.  Ward  fell.  He 
was  a  Hartford  man,  an  authority  in  naval  matters, 
author  of  Manual  of  Naval  Tactics,  also  a  work  on  Naval 
Ordnance  and  Gunnery  and  professor  at  the  Naval  Academy. 
He  organized  the  Potomac  flotilla,  the  first  Union  war-fleet, 
which  under  his  energetic  directing  cleared  a  passage  by 
water  to  Washington.  Ward  was  shot  while  commanding 
the  Freeborn  in  an  attack  on  Mathias  Point.  A  prominent 
Connecticut  man  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  war  was  General 
Joseph  K.  F.  Mansfield,  a  native  of  New  Haven.  After 
graduating  at  West  Point,  he  became  chief  engineer  in  the 


M 


O 


J3     „ 


o 


Connecticvit  in  tHe  Civil  W^ar  385 

Mexican  war  under  General  Taylor.  At  the  opening  of  the 
Civil  War  he  commanded  the  Department  of  Washington, 
became  brigadier-general,  captured  Norfolk,  was  made 
major-general  of  volunteers,  commanded  a  division  in  the 
Maryland  campaign,  and  was  mortally  wounded  while 
heading  a  charge  at  Antietam. 

On  the  day  after  Bull  Run,  Lincoln  called  for  five  hundred 
thousand  men  for  three  years.  Most  of  the  three  months' 
men  reenlisted.  The  Fourth  and  Fifth  regiments  had 
already  enlisted  for  three  years.  During  the  summer  of 
1 86 1,  the  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  and  Ninth  quickly  filled 
their  rolls.  In  the  autumn,  the  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth, 
and  Thirteenth  were  sent  away.  In  July,  1862,  Lincoln 
called  for  three  hundred  thousand  men  for  three  years. 
The  quota  of  Connecticut  was  7145.  General  Daniel 
Tyler  came  home,  and  was  tireless  preparing  regiments 
for  the  field.  The  Fourteenth  went  from  the  state  in 
general;  the  Fifteenth  from  New  Haven  County,  and  was 
called  the  Lyon  Regiment.  The  Sixteenth  was  raised  in 
Hartford  County,  and  Francis  Beach  of  the  regular  army 
was  colonel.  To  this  regiment  the  town  of  Farmington 
contributed  sixty-five  men.  The  Seventeenth  went  from 
Fairfield  County.  A  private  in  the  Seventeenth  was 
Elias  Howe,  Jr.,  one  of  the  richest  and  most  patriotic  men  in 
the  state.  A  stringency  in  the  government  treasury  had  at 
one  time  caused  a  dearth  of  pay  for  four  months.  Elias 
Howe  made  out  his  check  for  thirty-one  thousand  dollars, 
the  pay  for  two  months,  that  the  men  might  have  money. 

The  Sixteenth  had  a  terrific  experience ;  in  six  weeks  from 
the  time  the  regiment  went  down  the  Connecticut  River  it 
was  hurled  on  to  the  battle-field  of  Antietam,  the  bloodiest 
battle  of  the  war.  At  the  last  moment  they  received  their 
muskets,  and  the  men  were  ordered  to  join  the  advance  under 
Harlan.  The  second  day  only  a  half  of  the  Sixteenth  could 
be  mustered;  the  surgeons  had  worked  till  they  dropped 
from   exhaustion.     In    that   battle,    Connecticut   lost   one 

25 


386  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

hundred  and  thirty-six  who  were  killed  outright,  and  four 
hundred  and  sixty-six  wounded.  The  state  was  in  deep  sor- 
row after  Antietam,  not  only  because  of  the  many  killed 
and  wounded,  but  also  because  of  the  passing  of  many  into 
Southern  prisons. 

The  service  of  the  state  in  the  navy  was  no  less  efficient 
than  in  the  army,  and  the  name  that  comes  first  to  our  minds 
is  that  of  Gideon  Welles;  born  in  Glastonbury,  he  was  sum- 
moned from  the  editorial  rooms  of  the  Hartford  Times  to  be 
Lincoln's  secretary  of  the  navy.  It  was  he  who  not  only 
presided  over  the  formation  of  an  effective  navy,  whose 
battle-fame  will  never  cease  to  be  glorious,  but  he  also 
achieved  the  difficult  feat  of  cutting  off  the  supplies  of  food 
and  munitions  of  war  from  the  South  by  the  most  extended 
and  effective  blockade  the  world  has  seen,  so  that  the  South 
was  sealed  in.  The  state  also  gave  Rear- Admiral  Francis 
H.  Gregory,  Commodores  John  Rogers,  C.  R.  F.  Rog- 
ers, and  R.  B.  Hitchcock,  Lieutenant-Commanders  Henry 
C.  White,  Edward  Terry,  Francis  M.  Bunce,  afterwards 
admiral,  and  Andrew  H.  Foote,  afterwards  admiral.  The 
last  named  was  a  native  of  New  Haven,  and  after  a  long  and 
trying  service  in  the  Mediterranean  and  on  the  Canton 
River,  he  was  at  the  opening  of  the  war  in  command  of  the 
Brooklyn  Navy  Yard.  When  the  problem  of  opening  the 
Mississippi  River  confronted  the  government,  Foote  was 
called  on  to  organize  a  flotilla  of  gunboats.  With  his  cus- 
tomary energy  he  formed  a  river  navy,  and  his  name  will 
always  be  associated  with  the  capture  of  Forts  Henry  and 
Donelson,  the  two  most  important  Confederate  defenses  on 
the  west.  There  followed  the  more  difficult  undertaking  of 
reducing  the  strong  fortifications  of  Island  Number  Ten; 
army  worked  with  navy;  a  channel  was  cut  through  the 
peninsula  in  nineteen  days,  and  Foote's  gunboats,  passing 
through  the  canal,  soon  decided  the  fate  of  the  fort.  A 
wound  received  at  the  battle  of  Fort  Donelson  so  enfeebled 
him  that  in  July,  1862,  he  was  forced  to  give  up  the  com- 


O  O 

o  .a 

^  ii 

Hi  ^ 


6    'S 


O 


Connecticvit  in  tHe  Civil  "War  387 

mand  of  the  western  flotilla ;  the  same  month  he  was  advanced 
to  the  rank  of  rear-admiral.  After  a  brief  service  as  chief  of 
the  Bureau  of  Equipment  and  Recruiting,  he  was  ordered  to 
Charleston,  to  supersede  Admiral  Dupont,  but  he  died  in 
New  York,  June  26,  1863,  before  taking  command. 

The  building  of  the  Monitor  at  one  of  the  most  critical 
times  of  the  war  is  associated  with  Connecticut.  The  fear- 
ful execution  of  the  Merrimac  in  battle  at  Hampton  Roads 
had  caused  great  anxiety  in  Washington  and  through  the 
North.  Secretary  Welles  asked  for  a  board  of  engineers  to 
arrange  floating  batteries.  The  one  man  most  capable  of 
making  a  plan  for  a  gunboat  which  could  overcome  the 
Merrimac  was  John  Ericsson,  and  he  was  unable  to  get  a 
hearing.  In  1844,  he  had  designed  the  Princeton,  a  warship, 
whose  engines  were  below  the  water-line,  and  it  used  a  screw 
instead  of  paddle-wheels.  But  the  bursting  of  a  gun,  killing 
two  cabinet  members,  resulted  in  the  unjust  refusal  to  pay 
Ericsson  for  his  services.  While  plans  were  pending  with  the 
board  of  Secretary  Welles,  C.  S.  Bushnell  of  New  Haven  went 
to  Ericsson  for  an  estimate  on  the  amount  of  metal  that 
could  be  borne  by  the  Galena,  a  proposed  warship,  which 
Bushnell  was  building  for  the  government.  After  the  busi- 
ness was  finished,  Ericsson  showed  him  the  pasteboard 
model  of  the  Monitor.  Bushnell  was  so  impressed  by  it  that 
he  carried  it  at  once  to  Hartford  to  show  it  to  Secretary  Welles 
The  latter,  convinced  of  its  value,  urged  Bushnell  to  take 
it  before  the  naval  board.  Bushnell  secured  the  coopera- 
tion of  John  A.  Griswold  and  John  F.  Winslow  of  the  iron- 
works at  Troy.  He  also  interested  Secretary  Seward,  who 
gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  president,  but  the 
naval  officers  were  not  won.  On  a  second  hearing,  Bushnell 
urged  the  past  achievements  of  Ericsson  as  well  as  the  merits 
of  the  battery  proposed,  but  there  was  still  opposition. 
Bushnell  hastened  to  New  York  to  persuade  Ericsson  to  go 
to  Washington  to  speak  for  himself.  In  a  letter  to  Secretary 
Welles,  Bushnell  says: 


388  A  History  of  Connectic\it 

I  appeared  at  his  house  the  next  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  and 
heard  his  sharp  greeting.  "Well,  how  is  it?"  " Glorious, "  said 
I.  "Go  on,  go  on, "  said  he  with  impatience.  "What  did  they 
say?"  "Admiral  Smith  says  it  is  quite  worthy  of  the  genius  of 
an  Ericsson."  "But  Paulding — what  did  he  say  of  it?"  "He 
said  it  was  just  the  thing  to  clear  the  rebels  out  of  Charleston 
with."  "How  about  Davis?"  he  inquired.  "Captain  Davis 
wants  two  or  three  explanations  in  detail  that  I  couldn't  give 
him,  and  Secretary  Welles  wishes  you  to  come  right  on  and  make 
them  before  the  entire  Board  in  his  room  at  the  Department. " 
"Well,  I'll  go  to-night. " 

The  arguments  of  the  inventor  overcame  all  scruples,  and 
in  Ericsson's  words,  "I  returned  at  once,  and  before  the 
contract  was  completed,  the  keel  plate  of  the  intended  vessel 
had  passed  through  the  rollers  of  the  mill."  Bushnell, 
Winslow,  and  Griswold  became  partners  with  Ericsson  in  the 
construction  of  the  ship;  N.  D.  Sperry  of  New  Haven 
and  Daniel  Drew  of  New  York  indorsing  Bushnell's  bond  for 
his  share.  The  four  partners  signed  a  contract  in  October 
with  T.  F.  Rowland  for  the  construction  of  the  "iron  battery  " 
at  the  Continental  Iron  Works  at  Greenport,  N.  Y.,  "in 
a  thorough  and  workmanlike  manner  and  to  the  entire  satis- 
faction of  Captain  Ericsson,  and  in  the  shortest  possible  space 
of  time. "  She  was  launched  January  30, 1862 ;  extreme  length 
one  hundred  and  seventy-two  feet  and  height  of  turret  nine 
feet.  The  battery  consisted  of  two  eleven-inch  guns,  mounted 
in  a  revolving  turret,  supported  on  a  central  spindle.  This 
was  the  first  turret  actually  applied  to  a  ship.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  March  9,  the  "little  cheesebox  on  a  raft,"  the  engineer 
ill,  the  volunteer  crew  under  strict  orders  to  avoid  meeting  the 
rebel  ironclad,  steamed  into  Hampton  Roads.  The  Cumber- 
land had  been  sunk,  the  Congress  was  burning,  the  rest  of  the 
navy  at  the  mercy  of  the  Merrimac,  Fortress  Monroe  in 
danger,  the  northern  ports  warned  hastily  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  protect  themselves  as  best  they  could.  The  whole 
situation  was  changed  by  the  appearance  of  the  Monitor. 


Connecticvit  in  tHe  Civil  W^ar  389 

One  of  the  bravest  and  ablest  officers  of  the  war  was 
General  Alfred  H.  Terry,  who  was  born  in  Hartford,  studied 
law  at  Yale,  became  colonel  of  the  Second  Regiment  of  vol- 
unteers, fought  at  Bull  Run,  became  colonel  of  the  Seventh 
Connecticut,  was  made  brigadier-general  in  April,  1862, 
fought  at  Charleston  and  commanded  a  division  and  then  a 
corps  in  the  Army  of  the  James  in  the  campaign  of  1864. 
In  January,  1865,  in  cooperation  with  Admiral  Porter,  he 
made  a  successful  assault  on  Fort  Fisher,  for  which  service 
he  was  made  a  brigadier-general  in  the  regular  army  and 
was  promoted  to  be  major-general  of  volunteers;  in  1886, 
he  was  promoted  major-general  of  regulars.  The  persistent 
attacks  of  Terry  on  Fort  Wagner  ended  in  its  evacuation; 
he  afterwards  took  Wilmington,  and  served  under  Sherman 
in  the  final  campaign  against  Johnston.  The  greatest  achieve- 
ment of  General  Terry  was  the  capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  the 
guardian  of  Wilmington,  the  one  port  still  in  control  of  the 
Confederates,  through  which  passed  cotton  and  munitions 
of  war.  The  works  were  regarded  as  impregnable.  The 
man  whom  Grant  selected  to  lower  the  flag  of  Fort  Fisher  was 
Terry,  in  cooperation  with  Admiral  Porter,  who  came  on 
from  the  West,  after  two  years  of  able  service,  to  conduct 
the  naval  part  of  the  undertaking.  The  rebel  force  out- 
numbered the  Union,  but  Terry  left  nothing  undone  to 
insure  success.  For  seventy-two  hours  he  was  without  sleep, 
so  careful  was  he  in  his  preparations.  The  contest  was  per- 
sistent and  bitter;  but  at  last  the  fort  was  taken  with  nine- 
teen hundred  prisoners,  forty-four  heavy  guns,  and  many 
fieldpieces;  General  Terry,  "the  hero  of  Fort  Fisher,"  was 
congratulated  in  personal  letters  from  Stanton,  Grant,  and 
the  president.  Through  the  influence  of  those  men  Terry 
was  made  Provisional  Major-General  of  Volunteers,  though 
the  legal  number  of  such  officers  was  filled.  There  was  not 
another  instance  like  this  in  the  war;  he  was  also  the  solitary 
instance  of  an  officer  of  volunteers  made  brigadier-general 
of  the  regular  army. 


390  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

There  was  still  another  general  of  great  ability  from  Con- 
necticut, John  Sedgwick ;  born  at  Cornwall,  graduated  at  West 
Point,  he  served  in  the  Seminole  and  Mexican  wars.  At  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  he  was  appointed  colonel  in  the 
regular  army,  and  brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  and  he  be- 
came major-general  in  1 862 .  He  commanded  a  division  of  the 
Second  Corps  in  the  Peninsula  campaign,  and  at  Fair  Oaks, 
May  31, 1862,  thearrivalof  his  division  saved  McClellan's  right 
wing  from  disaster.  At  Antietam  he  was  twice  wounded,  being 
carried  almost  lifeless  from  the  field,  and  when  Hooker  reor- 
ganized the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  the  spring  of  1863,  Sedg- 
wick was  given  the  Sixth  Corps  which  he  commanded  until  his 
death.  He  was  appointed  to  storm  the  heights  of  Fredericks- 
burg, took  part  in  the  last  two  days  at  Gettysburg,  and  led  in 
the  pursuit  of  the  defeated  Confederates.  He  was  prominent 
in  the  opening  of  the  campaign  in  the  Wilderness,  and  was 
killed  at  Spottsylvania,  on  May  9, 1 864.  Sedgwick  was  a  man 
of  equal  kindness,  coolness,  modesty  and  intrepidity ;  he  saved 
the  day  at  Fair  Oaks;  he  twice  refused  the  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac;  defying  danger  he  fell  at  length,  shot 
through  the  head.  An  historian  says, ' '  The  army  felt  it  could 
better  have  afforded  to  sacrifice  the  best  division." 

The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry  had  a  remarkable  record ; 
its  colonel  for  a  time  was  Erastus  Blakeslee,  bom  in  Ply- 
mouth, he  enlisted  as  lieutenant,  and  in  two  years  was  pro- 
moted to  the  command.  The  regiment  was  in  eighty-eight 
engagements,  and  of  the  twelve  medals  given  by  Congress  to 
Connecticut  soldiers  for  bravery,  three  were  assigned  to 
members  of  this  regiment.  It  was  part  of  Sheridan's 
renowned  cavalry.  The  valley  of  the  Shenandoah  was  its 
favorite  fighting  ground.  At  last,  in  Sheridan's  powerful 
squadrons,  it  helped  cut  off  Lee's  last  chance  of  retreat.  The 
artillery  of  Connecticut  was  in  the  same  class  with  the  in- 
fantry and  cavalry;  the  First  Artillery  was  called  by  the 
great  artillery  officer.  General  Barry,  "unrivalled  in  the 
armies  of  the  United  States";  of  the  Second  Artillery,  made 


Connecticvit  in  tHe  Civil  "War  391 

up  of  the  sons  of  Litchfield  County,  General  Terry  said  that 
there  might  be  better,  but  he  had  never  seen  it. 

It  is  not  quite  fair  to  make  personal  mention  of  so  many, 
and  not  of  many  more  who  were  equally  brave  and  heroic: 
men  like  Hawley,  Kingsbury,  Chatfield,  Rodman,  Chamber- 
lain, Trumbull,  Camp  and  thousands  of  men  in  the  ranks. 
Royal  was  the  devotion  of  Connecticut,  and  no  one  has 
summed  up  her  service  better  than  CrofTut,  the  military 
historian  of  the  state,  who  says: 

The  first  great  martyrs  of  the  war — Ellsworth,  Winthrop,  Ward 
and  Lyon — were  of  Connecticut  stock.  A  Connecticut  flag 
first  displaced  the  palmetto  upon  the  soil  of  South  Carolina; 
a  Connecticut  flag  was  first  planted  in  Mississippi ;  a  Connecticut 
flag  was  first  unfurled  before  New  Orleans.  The  sons  of  Connec- 
ticut followed  the  illustrious  grandson  of  Connecticut  (General 
Sherman)  as  he  swung  his  army  with  amazing  momentum 
from  the  fastnesses  of  Tennessee  to  the  Confederacy's  vital 
center.  On  the  banks  of  every  river  in  the  South,  and  in  the 
battle-smoke  of  every  contested  ridge  and  mountain-peak,  the 
sons  of  Connecticut  have  stood  and  patiently  struggled. 

He  might  have  added  that  Ulysses  S.  Grant  was  grandson  of 
Noah  Grant,  a  South  Windsor  man  who  went  as  a  pioneer 
to  the  Western  Reserve. 

The  total  expense  of  the  war  to  the  state,  not  includ- 
ing private  contributions,  or  indirect  loss,  was  more  than 
six  millions  and  a  half.  The  population  was  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-one  thousand,  of  whom  eighty  thousand 
were  voters,  and  from  this  number  there  went  to  the  war 
54,882  men,  who  were  distributed  among  twenty-eight 
regiments  of  infantry,  two  regiments  and  three  batteries  of 
artillery,  one  regiment  and  one  squadron  of  cavalry.  When 
reduced  to  three-years'  terms,  the  number  sent  from  the  state 
is  equivalent  to  48,181  men,  6698  more  than  her  quota. 
Of  these,  the  number  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  together 
with  those  dying  of  disease,  was  20,573  (209  being  officers). 


CHAPTER  XXX 
INSURANCE 

THE  place  insurance  has  held  among  the  business  interests 
of  Connecticut  for  more  than  a  century  is  sufficient 
reason  for  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  an  enterprise 
in  which  this  state  has  been  famous  for  adventure  and  sound 
judgment.  After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1789, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  stable  government,  the  energetic 
people  began  to  grapple  afresh  with  the  questions  that  arose 
on  every  side,  and  to  pass  out  into  various  lines  of  achieve- 
ment. In  1792,  the  Hartford  Bank  and  the  Union  Bank  of 
New  London  were  organized,  and  soon  afterwards  the  men 
who  formed  the  Hartford  Bank  came  together  as  an  associa- 
tion to  insure  houses  and  merchandise  against  fire.  In  1794, 
Thomas  Sanford  and  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  who  conducted 
a  general  merchandise  or  department  store,  decided  to  ven- 
ture to  underwrite,  since  experiments  in  Philadelphia  had 
shown  that  there  might  be  money  in  it,  and  their  famous 
Policy  Number  Two  was  dated  February  8,  1794,  ^^^  i^ 
insured  the  house  of  William  Imlay  for  eight  himdred  pounds 
for  one  year,  at  a  rate  of  one-half  of  one  per  cent.  It  pro- 
tected the  owner  "against  fire,  and  all  dangers  of  fire;  more- 
over against  all  damage,  which  on  account  of  fire  may 
happen,  either  by  tempest,  fire,  wind,"  or  fault  of  servants 
or  neighbors.  About  everything  was  based  on  confidence 
in  the  owner  of  the  property,  who  needed  to  "give  no  proof 

or  accounting  of  value;  but  the  producing  this  policy  shall 

392 


Insurance  393 

suffice."  Nothing  was  paid  if  the  loss  was  less  than  five  per 
cent,  of  the  amount  of  the  policy.  The  only  people  insured 
were  well-to-do  men  who  were  above  suspicion.  On  March 
14,  1794,  there  appeared  a  card  in  the  Hartford  Courant: 

Hartford  Fire  Insurance-Office 

The  subscribers  have  this  day  opened  an  office  for  The  pur- 
pose of  insuring  Houses,  Household  Furniture,  Goods,  Wares, 
Merchandise  etc.  against  Fire. 

Sanford  and  Wadsworth. 

Hartford,  loth  March,  1794. 

On  July  27,  1795,  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  John  Caldwell, 
Thomas  Sanford,  Elias  Shipman,  and  John  Morgan  formed 
a  copartnership  "for  the  purpose  of  underwriting  on  vessels, 
stock,  merchandise,  etc.,  by  the  firm  of  the  Hartford  and 
New  Haven  Insurance  Company."  Evidently  this  is  the 
partnership  of  the  year  before  enlarged  by  the  addition  of 
Elias  Shipman  of  New  Haven,  who  was  made  agent  in  that 
city,  and  the  business  was  widened  to  include  marine  insur- 
ance. Shipman  soon  withdrew,  establishing  a  separate 
business,  and  from  the  autumn  of  1797,  this  was  carried 
on  under  the  charter  of  the  New  Haven  Insurance  Company 
until  it  ceased  in  1833.  It  is  an  indication  of  the  enterprise 
and  good  judgment  of  some  of  the  ablest  men  of  a  century 
ago,  especially  the  strong  men  of  Hartford,  that  they  en- 
tered upon  the  new  field  of  insurance,  and  it  is  interesting  to 
glance  at  some  of  the  leaders.  In  the  first  avowed  partner- 
ship for  the  purpose  is  the  name  of  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  an 
intimate  friend  of  Robert  Morris  and  Alexander  Hamilton; 
a  devoted  patriot  in  the  Revolution,  promoted  to  the  posi- 
tion of  commissary-general  of  purchases  for  the  colonies, 
and  after  the  war  one  of  the  best  financiers  of  his  time. 
Wadsworth  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Bank  of  North 
America  in  Philadelphia,  and  on  the  urgent  advice  of  Hamil- 
ton was  elected  president  of  the  Bank  of  New  York.     He  was 


394  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

chiefly  instrumental  in  organizing  the  Hartford  Bank,  of 
which  he  was  elected  president.  His  only  son  Daniel 
inherited  his  father's  wealth  and  largeness  of  sympathies, 
and  furnished  the  site  and  generous  subscriptions  for  the 
Atheneum,  which  was  built  where  the  Wadsworth  mansion 
stood.  John  Caldwell  was  a  merchant  who  held  many 
offices  of  trust  and  influence,  building  and  owning  ships, 
and  providing  much  of  the  cargoes  to  the  West  Indies  and 
other  lands.  He  was  president  of  the  Hartford  Marine 
Insurance  Company ;  elected  twenty  times  to  the  legislature ; 
was  on  the  commission  to  build  the  State  House,  and  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  School  for  the  Deaf. 

John  Morgan  was  a  leading  merchant  of  the  Connecticut 
valley,  to  which  his  ancestor  of  the  fifth  remove  had  come 
as  a  pioneer.  He  is  remembered  as  a  courtly  gentleman  of 
the  colonial  type,  and  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1838,  he 
wore  the  colonial  costume — a  ruffled  shirt  bosom,  short 
breeches,  and  silver  knee- buckles,  and  was  noted  for  his 
elegant  manners.  By  the  largest  subscription  and  tireless 
efforts  he  pushed  through  the  building  of  the  bridge,  and  was 
president  of  the  Connecticut  Bridge  Company  from  1809,  to 
1820,  Caldwell  and  Morgan  carried  their  influence  to  aid 
Ezekiel  Williams,  Jr.,  for  years  the  central  figure  in  the 
marine  insurance  of  the  Connecticut  valley.  Williams  was 
born  in  Wethersfield  in  1765,  and  was  grandson  of  Solomon 
Williams,  minister  for  half  a  century  of  the  church  in 
Lebanon,  of  which  Governor  Trumbull  was  a  pillar. 

There  was  abundant  opportunity  for  marine  insurance, 
especially  at  Hartford,  the  head  of  sloop  navigation,  and  the 
port  from  which  many  goods  floated  down  the  Connecticut. 
It  was  a  laborious  business,  for  the  methods  were  crude, — not 
by  definite  companies,  but  by  distinct  combinations,  entered 
into  when  a  vessel  sailed,  and  Williams  arranged  and  man- 
aged this,  collecting  the  premiums,  keeping  records,  investi- 
gating claims,  and  paying  losses.  Many  policies  bore  as 
many  as  fourteen  signatures,  and  Williams  had  an  account 


Insxirance  395 

with  every  man,  collecting  premiums  or  paying  dividends 
according  to  the  fortune  of  the  vessel,  for  the  assurers 
usually  gave  their  notes  for  the  premium,  payable  out  of 
the  profits  at  the  close  of  the  venture.  The  premiums  for 
the  round  trip  often  ran  up  to  ten,  fifteen,  and  sixteen  per 
cent.,  and  rebates  were  allowed  if  the  vessel  avoided  certain 
ports  and  returned  safely.     The  assurers  agreed  to  bear 

perils  of  seas,  men  of  war,  fires,  enemies,  pirates,  rovers,  thieves, 
jettisons,  letters  of  mart,  and  counter-mart,  surprisals,  takings 
at  sea,  arrests,  restraints,  and  detainments  of  all  kings,  princes 
or  people  of  what  nation,  condition  or  quality  soever;  barratry 
of  the  master  (unless  the  assured  be  the  owner  of  the  vessel)  and 
mariners,  and  all  other  losses,  perils  and  misfortunes,  that  have 
or  shall  come  to  the  hurt,  detriment  or  damage  of  the  said  vessel 
or  any  part  thereof. 

The  amounts  written  on  a  vessel  varied :  sometimes  ten  men 
would  join,  taking  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
each;  others  wrote  five  or  six  hundred  dollars;  several 
ventured  once  or  twice,  then  retired.  When  wintry  winds 
were  howling,  a  risk  on  a  marine  policy  was  a  poor  sleeping- 
powder. 

We  have  glanced  at  the  association  of  Wadsworth,  San- 
ford,  and  others  in  the  beginnings  of  fire  insurance  in  1794, 
a  partnership  which  was  dissolved  in  1798.  Some  of  these 
pioneers  stayed  in  the  business,  and  in  1803,  were  incorpor- 
ated as  the  Hartford  Insurance  Company,  and  in  18 10,  a 
charter  was  secured  for  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
with  a  capital  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 
The  president  from  1803,  was  John  Caldwell,  and  the  office 
was  on  the  south  side  of  Pearl  Street,  near  Main.  From  1 807, 
the  secretary  was  Thomas  S.  Williams,  a  younger  brother  of 
Ezekiel,  an  office  which  had  strong  attractions  for  able 
men,  for  Williams  was  mayor  of  Hartford,  member  of 
Congress,  judge  and  chief -justice  of  the  state,  and  his  suc- 
cessor was  William  W.  Ellsworth,  member  of  Congress  and 


39^  A  History  of  Connecticut 

governor.  After  its  charter  was  secured,  the  Hartford  Fire, 
now  the  second  oldest  stock  fire  insurance  company  in 
America,  secured  a  large  man  for  president, — General 
Nathanael  Terr}^  an  imperial  and  imperious  man  of  six 
feet  and  four  inches.  He  was  for  long  periods  mayor,  judge, 
and  member  of  Congress,  The  burden  of  business  fell  upon 
the  secretary,  Walter  Mitchell  of  Wethersfield,  who  received 
an  annual  salary  of  three  hundred  dollars,  and  an  allowance 
of  thirty  dollars  for  rent;  it  was  afterward  increased 
gradually  to  four  hundred  and  sixty,  and  then  it  gradually 
dwindled  to  two  hundred  dollars.  Not  a  loss  occurred  the 
first  year,  and  for  the  following  three  years,  losses  amounted 
to  less  than  five  hundred  dollars.  Insurance  was  at  first 
supposed  to  be  a  matter  of  pure  chance;  no  attempt  was 
made  to  generalize  the  laws  which  lay  beneath  it,  and  as  it 
was  an  affair  of  experiment,  some  paid  too  little  and  some 
too  much;  policy  number  one  of  the  Hartford  covered  a 
builder's  risk  of  four  thousand  dollars  for  three  months  at 
twelve  and  a  half  per  cent.  Number  five  took  a  risk  of 
eleven  thousand  dollars  on  a  gin  distillery  at  one  and  a  half 
per  cent,  per  annum;  number  twenty-one  was  a  risk  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars  on  a  stock  of  dry  goods  at  seventy- 
five  cents  a  thousand,  and  number  twenty-two  a  policy  for 
twenty  thousand  dollars  on  a  stock  of  hardware  at  twenty- 
five  cents.  Within  a  few  weeks  of  its  founding,  the  com- 
pany was  taking  risks  thirty- three  per  cent,  in  excess  of  its 
cash  receipts,  and  persons  desiring  insurance  solicited  it 
as  a  privilege  from  the  company.  For  nine  months  ending 
in  April,  1811,  the  premiums  were  less  than  three  thousand 
dollars,  and  interest  and  dividends  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  dollars.  Care  was  taken  to  investigate  the  character 
of  the  owner  of  the  property,  and  at  first  no  commission  was 
paid  to  agents,  whose  compensation  came  from  the  cost  of 
the  making  of  the  survey  and  the  policy  fee.  Agencies  began 
to  be  planted  from  181 1,  in  remote  towns,  such  as  Canan- 
daigua,  New  York,  Haverhill,  Greenfield,  and  Middlebury. 


Insurance  397 

All  the  companies  made  the  mistake  in  years  of  pros- 
perity of  dividing  the  profits  so  closely  that  only  two  or 
three  survived  the  heavy  losses  that  came  eventually.     In 
1835,  at  the  time  of  the  great  New  York  fire,  it  was  feared 
that  no  company  could  survive,  but  Eliphalet  Terry,  presi- 
dent of  the  Hartford  Fire,  having  pledged  his  own  property 
at  the  Hartford  Bank  as  security  for  the  drafts  to  be  drawn, 
started  in  a  sleigh  with  James  Bolles,  the  secretary,  with  the 
mercury  below  zero,  to  grapple  with  the  crisis.     They  found 
most  of  the  insurance  companies  bankrupt,  and  a  despond- 
ency that  bordered  on  panic.     Terry  announced   that   he 
would  pay  in  full  all  losses  of  the  Hartford  and  take  new 
insurance.     It  was  the  first  sign  of  cheer  in   the  gloom, 
and  business  poured  in  to   such  an  extent  that  premiums 
multiplied,  and  the  day  of  small  things   was  left  behind. 
The  company  pushed  west  and  south;  in  1867,  George  L. 
Chase  of  the  western  department  was  appointed  president, 
and  the  new  administration  urged  on  the  established  policy 
with  fresh  vigor,  aiming  to  have  an  agency  in  every  settle- 
ment in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  where  income  bade 
fair  to  exceed  outgo.    The  long  season  of  unbroken  prosperity 
was  interrupted  by  the  Chicago  fire  in  1871,  and  the  company 
lost  nearly  two  million  dollars.     The  Hartford  Bank  again 
came  to  the  rescue,  and  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  loaned 
the   company   half  a  million.     Thirteen  months  later,  the 
Boston  fire  called  for  nearly  half  a  million,  but  the  company 
met  the  drain  out  of  current  receipts.     The  small  capital  and 
large  surplus  of  the  Hartford  give  it  a  decided  advantage, 
and  the  dividends  are  large  enough  to  satisfy  the  most 
exacting    shareholder.      During     Walter     Mitchell's     con- 
nection with  the  company  the  business  was  carried  on  in 
his  law  office  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the   Courant 
building;  in  1854,  the  company  took  quarters  on  Main  Street, 
north  of  Pratt,  and  in  1870,  it  moved  into  its  own  building, 
at  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Trumbull. 

The  first  incorporated  insurance  company  in  the  state 


39^  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

still  exists,  and  through  all  changes  it  holds  fast  to  the 
simple  plan  of  its  founders.  On  the  evening  of  December 
29,  1794,  a  number  of  substantial  citizens  of  Norwich  met 
to  consider  plans  for  mutual  protection  against  losses  by 
fire.  They  were  tired  of  the  old  way  of  passing  round  the 
hat  to  aid  a  neighbor.  A  month  later  they  met  again,  and 
approved  a  basis  for  an  association  in  which  every  person 
joining  agreed  to  pay  a  premium  of  one-half  of  one  per  cent, 
the  first  year,  one-third  the  second,  and  one-fourth  there- 
after. In  1795,  the  association  was  incorporated  by  the 
name  of  the  Mutual  Assurance  Company  of  the  City  of 
Norwich.  The  company  continues  to  do  a  modest  and  safe 
business.  The  Norwich  Marine  Insurance  Company,  which 
was  chartered  in  1803,  in  18 18,  became  the  Norwich  Fire 
Insurance  Company,  the  earliest  stock  company  in  the  state, 
did  a  limited  and  hand  to  mouth  business  until  the  Chicago 
fire  in  1871,  when  it  ceased  its  quiet  existence.  The  Middle- 
town  Insurance  Company  was  organized  in  1803,  and  the 
Union  of  New  London  in  1805;  the  business  of  these  com- 
panies was  confined  wholly  to  marine  insurance,  and  during 
the  embargo  of  1807,  the  French  spoliation  seizures,  and  the 
war  with  England,  they  had  a  hard  time,  but  those  that 
weathered  the  storm  flourished  later, — the  Norwich,  by 
changing  to  fire  insurance  in  18 18. 

There  is  a  curious  tradition  connected  with  the  -^tna 
Insurance  Company,  incorporated  in  18 19,  that  the  immedi- 
ate occasion  of  its  forming  was  the  fact  that  Walter  Mitchell, 
first  secretary  and  general  factotum  of  the  Hartford  Fire, 
was  rather  heavy  in  his  methods,  requiring  any  one  seeking 
insurance  to  go  to  his  office  at  hours  to  suit  the  lawyer,  who 
needed  to  start  for  his  Wethersfield  home  at  an  early  hour, 
especially  when  the  mud  was  up  to  the  hubs;  the  story 
goes  that  after  enduring  a  continuous  strain  upon  their 
patience,  some  of  the  Hartford  merchants  formed  a  new 
company,  the  JEtna,  which  started  with  a  capital  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  with  the  privilege  of 


Insurance  399 

increasing  it  to  half  a  million.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
directors  at  Morgan's  Coffee  House,  Thomas  K.  Brace  was 
chosen  president  and  Isaac  Perkins  secretary.  The  total 
expenses  for  the  first  year,  including  the  secretary's  salary  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  reached  the  total  of 
four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  It  was  a  part  of  the  policy 
of  the  ^tna  to  push  the  business  of  the  company  with 
energy,  and  there  began  at  that  time  the  practice  of  noting 
the  differing  results  of  insuring  different  classes  of  buildings 
and  merchandise,  and  of  collecting  a  classified  list  of  risks, 
with  a  corresponding  list  of  rates.  This  is  said  to  have 
originated  in  the  office  of  the  ^^tna,  where  the  secretary 
was  requested  to  keep  a  blank  book  in  which  he  was  to 
record  statistics  of  fires  as  they  were  described  in  the  news- 
papers, and  to  give  an  account  of  the  kind  of  place  and 
property  in  each  case,  a  decided  step  toward  the  scientific 
treatment  of  insurance.  This  company  initiated  the  radical 
departure  of  planting  agencies  at  the  more  important 
centers  of  trade.  In  1822,  the  directors  voted  to  request  the 
secretary  "to  journey  on  the  seaboard  of  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  from  thence  through  the 
interior  of  the  country,  home,  and  establish  agencies  at  all 
places  where  he  may  think  proper,  and  for  his  service  he 
shall  be  allowed  his  expenses  and  two  dollars  per  day." 
The  JEtna  was  the  first  company  to  issue  a  policy  in  Chicago, 
having  appointed  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  to  represent  it  there; 
for  thirty  years  he  did  an  extensive  pioneer  work  in  the 
cities  of  the  Middle  West  and  as  far  south  as  New  Orleans. 
In  1843,  the  ^tna  entered  upon  the  risks  of  inland  naviga- 
tion on  cargoes  of  steamers  and  pole  boats,  but  not  on  the 
boats  themselves,  nor  on  cargoes  loaded  on  "that  species 
of  craft  called  boxes,  arks  or  broad-horns."  A  policy  was 
issued  in  1859,  at  the  rate  of  one-half  of  one  per  cent.,  on 
fifteen  negroes,  valued  at  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  The 
JEtna  escaped  the  great  New  York  fire  of  1835,  but  ten  years 
later  a  six  million  dollar  fire  in  New  York  cost  this  company 


400  A  History  of  Connecticut 

one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  When  the  news 
reached  Hartford,  President  Brace  called  a  meeting  of  the 
directors,  and  they  sat  in  silence  while  the  safe  was  unlocked 
and  the  stocks  and  bonds  taken  out.  The  silence  was  broken 
by  the  question,  "Mr.  Brace,  what  will  you  do?"  "Do?" 
he  replied.  "Go  to  New  York  and  pay  the  losses,  if  it  takes 
every  dollar  there,"  pointing  to  the  packages,  "and  my  own 
fortune  besides."  "Good,"  responded  the  others,  "we  will 
stand  with  you  with  our  fortunes  also."  Such  an  increase 
of  premium-receipts  followed  that  in  twelve  months  the 
^tna  was  as  strong  in  cash  as  before.  In  1853,  it  opened 
an  office  in  Cincinnati,  and  soon  a  thousand  agents  were  at 
work  west  of  the  Alleghenies,  and  wealth  piled  up.  In  1857, 
the  safe  and  able  Thomas  K,  Brace,  through  whose  influence 
mainly  the  ^tna  came  into  existence,  resigned  the  presi- 
dency, and  was  followed  by  Edwin  R.  Ripley  who  began  to 
arrange  statistics  in  regard  to  relative  hazards,  a  method 
which  has  been  applied  to  every  kind  of  risk,  and  has  led  to 
scientific  underwriting.  In  1835,  the  first  blank  proof  of 
loss  was  issued,  in  a  form  which  is  substantially  that  in 
common  use  to-day,  and  two  years  later  it  issued  the  first 
chromo  poster,  picturing  a  steamer  throwing  a  stream  of 
water  on  a  burning  block;  in  1857,  it  introduced  the  use  of 
outline  maps — germ  of  the  Sanborn  maps.  The  JEtna  has 
the  largest  capital  in  the  world — four  million  dollars. 

The  third  great  Hartford  fire  insurance  company  to  or- 
ganize was  the  Protection,  which  was  incorporated  in  1825, 
with  William  Wolcott  Ellsworth,  son  of  the  Chief  Justice,  as 
president,  Thomas  C.  Perkins,  the  distinguished  lawyer, 
as  secretary,  and  the  versatile  and  powerful  Ephraim  Robins 
as  general  agent,  with  an  office  at  Cincinnati;  and  soon  two 
hundred  and  fifty  agents  were  at  work  in  Ohio  and  neigh- 
boring states.  The  Protection  was  fortunate  in  the  efficient 
services  of  Mark  Howard,  who  in  1846,  became  a  special 
agent  for  the  exclusive  work  of  supervision  and  adjust- 
ment ;  in  those  days  when  there  were  few  railroads,  he  went 


Insvirance  401 

from  Maine  to  Louisiana,  mostly  by  canal,  stage  and  steam- 
boat. When  the  St.  Louis  fire  came  in  1849,  Mark  Howard 
walked  through  the  deserted  streets  of  the  city  devastated 
by  the  cholera,  and  paid  in  full  the  claims  of  his  company. 
Correct  views  of  conducting  the  business  were  slowly  de- 
veloping. Like  most  of  the  other  companies  of  the  time,  the 
Protection  lived  from  hand  to  mouth.  The  necessity  of 
reserves  had  not  been  learned.  One-half  of  the  capital  was 
represented  by  stock-notes,  and  final  statements  were 
strained  to  make  a  fair  showing.  At  last,  on  September  7, 
1854,  the  Protection  collapsed,  and  three  years  later,  the 
Merchants  was  chartered,  with  Mark  Howard  as  president. 
In  the  management  of  this  company,  whose  book  of  sub- 
scriptions was  opened  July  2,  1857,  Howard  insisted  that 
success  depended  more  on  carefully  selected  lines  of  risks 
rather  than  on  a  large  volume  of  premiums.  This  was  the 
first  company  in  Connecticut  to  repudiate  building  on 
stock-notes.  Business  increased  rapidly  and  in  a  few 
years  it  was  supposed  to  be  impregnable,  but  in  October, 
1871,  the  Chicago  fire  came,  with  a  loss  of  over  a  million, 
five  times  the  amount  of  the  capital  of  the  Merchants, 
and  nearly  half  a  million  in  excess  of  its  entire  assets, 
and  there  was  only  one  thing  to  do:  everything  was 
sold  and  the  proceeds  applied.  It  was  then  decided  to 
continue  the  business  of  the  Merchants  under  the  charter 
of  the  National,  a  charter  for  which  had  been  secured  two 
years  before,  and  Mark  Howard  was  elected  president  and 
James  Nichols  secretary.  The  prosperity  of  this  company 
has  been  substantial.  President  Howard  died  in  1887,  leaving 
the  memor}^  of  a  man  of  lofty  ideals  and  devotion  to  prin- 
ciple. His  instruction  book,  which  he  prepared  for  the 
Protection  about  1848,  was  the  most  elaborate  of  any  ever 
issued,  becoming  the  basis  of  similar  books  that  have 
followed.  There  for  the  first  time  appeared  the  definitions 
of  insurance  terms,  the  treatment  of  moral  hazard,  local  and 
internal  hazard,  and  full  instruction  for  the  inspection  of 
26 


402  A  History  of  Connecticxjit 

risks.  He  also  gave  standards  for  the  rating  of  many  risks, 
forms  of  policy  for  many  hazards,  and  for  the  first  time  the 
three-quarter  value  clause. 

The  Mutual  Security  Company,  organized  in  New  Haven 
in  1 84 1,  for  a  time  confined  itself  mainly  to  marine  business, 
but  in  1872,  it  reduced  its  marine  risks  and  extended  its 
fire  business  until  it  had  a  thousand  agencies.  It  is  a 
favorite  company  in  New  Haven,  and  justly,  because  of  the 
character  of  the  officers.  The  Connecticut  Fire  Insurance 
Company  was  organized  in  Hartford  in  1850,  with  Benjamin 
W.  Greene  as  president,  and  John  B.  Eldredge  secretary. 
The  policy  deliberately  chosen  was  one  of  conservatism  so 
positive  that  it  was  said  that  if  the  president  insured  a  load 
of  pig  iron  in  a  ten-acre  lot,  he  would  lie  awake  nights  fearing 
that  it  might  take  fire  with  spontaneous  combustion.  It  is 
not  strange  that  he  was  cautious,  for  he  had  protested 
against  the  dangerous  policy  of  the  Protection,  of  which 
he  was  a  director.  Safety  rather  than  large  receipts  was 
the  watchword.  In  1871,  the  company  was  brought  near 
the  brink  of  ruin  by  the  Chicago  fire;  a  settlement  was 
made  whereby  the  Connecticut  Fire  saved  its  charter  and 
its  plant,  increased  its  capital  to  half  a  million,  and  passed 
on  into  a  strong  career.  No  one  else  contributed  more  to 
this  fine  achievement  than  John  D.  Browne,  whose  record 
from  his  home  in  Plainville,  as  secretary  and  president  of  the 
company,  is  of  the  highest  character.  Conservative  in  judg- 
ment, tireless  in  energy  and  of  sterling  integrity,  his  service 
was  priceless.  In  1885,  the  company  completed  its  home 
office,  a  beautiful  building  after  the  Byzantine  style, 
situated  on  Prospect  Street. 

The  Phoenix  was  organized  in  1854,  ^^^  with  Simeon 
L,  Loomis  president  and  Henry  Kellogg  secretary,  the  com- 
pany sprang  swiftly  to  a  strong  position.  It  took  the  lead 
in  planting  agencies  up  and  down  the  Pacific  coast.  In 
1 87 1,  the  Phoenix  had  accumulated  nearly  two  million 
dollars  of  solid  assets,  which  enabled  it  to  pay  in  full  the 


Insurance  403 

Chicago  losses  of  nearly  a  million  dollars.  At  the  time  of  the 
fire,  Marshall  Jewell,  a  large  stockholder  and  director, 
happening  to  be  in  Detroit,  hurried  to  the  spot  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  president,  mounted  a  dry-goods  box  in  the 
presence  of  the  half -crazed  crowd,  he  announced  that  the 
company  would  pay  all  the  losses  in  full,  and  he  drew  his 
check  for  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  first  claim  presented. 
Immediately  the  Tribune  dropped  from  its  window  a  huge 
placard,  announcing  that  the  Phoenix  had  begun  to  pay  all 
its  loss  in  full.  The  news  spread,  and  the  crowd  laughed, 
cheered,  and  cried  by  turns.  The  growth  of  the  company 
of  late  has  been  vigorous. 

The  Orient,  organized  in  1871,  was  the  lineal  successor 
of  the  City  Fire  Insurance  Company,  which  ceased  after 
the  Chicago  fire.  Under  careful  management  the  com- 
pany has  had  decided  success,  enduring  the  heavy  blow 
from  the  Boston  fire;  moving  on  into  a  strong  position, 
which  has  been  reinforced  by  coming  under  the  controlling 
influence  of  the  London  and  Lancashire  in  1900,  and  since 
that  time  it  has  gone  on  faster  than  ever.  The  quarters 
of  the  Orient  were  moved  in  1904,  from  the  Goodwin  build- 
ing on  Asylum  Street  to  a  handsome  structure  opposite  the 
capitol,  the  first  departure  from  the  insurance  section  of 
the  city,  an  example  soon  to  be  followed  by  the  Rossia 
Insurance  Company  of  St.  Petersburg,  which  has  secured  a 
site  at  the  corner  of  Broad  Street  and  Farmington  Avenue. 
In  1880,  the  Scottish  Union  and  National  Insurance  Com- 
pany of  Edinburgh  and  the  Lion  Fire  of  London  made  Hart- 
ford their  headquarters.  There  are  many  other  companies 
of  those  chartered  by  the  Assembly  that  deserve  mention; 
nearly  forty  mutual  companies  have  been  incorporated  in 
different  parts  of  the  state,  such  as  the  Hartford  County 
Mutual,  Middlesex  Mutual,  New  London  County  Mutual, 
Farmington  Valley  Mutual,  and  Litchfield  Mutual.  Con- 
necticut has  become  a  noted  center  for  fire  insurance,  and 
in  no  other  department  of  business  has  the  ability  of  many 


404  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

of  the  ablest  men  of  the  state  been  more  clearly  seen  than  in 
this.  The  true  principles  of  insurance  have  been  learned 
by  study  and  often  by  heavy  losses.  Five  of  the  nine  Hart- 
ford companies  in  existence  at  the  time  of  the  Chicago  fire 
went  out  of  commission  then,  and  the  aggregate  of  the 
losses  which  the  nine  companies  endured  was  eleven  million 
dollars. 

It  is  interesting  to  consider  that  in  the  early  years  some 
of  the  companies  furnished  fire  sacks  to  the  firemen  to  aid  in 
removing  goods  from  burning  buildings,  and  it  was  voted 
in  18 19,  that  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  appro- 
priate twenty  dollars  toward  the  ''watch  of  the  city."  As 
late  as  1840,  every  able-bodied  man  in  Hartford  was  re- 
quired to  attend  fires  whenever  they  came,  and  whatever 
the  weather,  or  pay  a  fine  of  two  dollars.  Water  for  the 
flames  was  often  carried  by  the  bucket  brigade,  which 
formed  a  double  line  to  the  nearest  well,  stream,  or  pond, 
and  the  hand  engines  often  performed  valuable  service.  In 
times  of  strain,  when  millions  were  going  up  in  smoke,  and 
also  while  the  flames  were  consuming  cottage  or  barn,  peace 
of  mind  has  come  to  many  through  their  confidence  in  the 
sterling  character  of  the  fire  insurance  companies  of  Con- 
necticut. Many  foreign  companies  have  their  principal 
places  of  business  in  Hartford,  and  among  fire  companies 
of  recent  origin  the  Standard  is  prominent. 

After  fifty  years  of  success  with  marine  and  fire  insurance, 
the  question  arose  in  Hartford,  "Why  not  apply  this  princi- 
ple to  the  securing  of  similar  benefits  upon  life?"  It  was 
Pinckney  W.  Ellsworth,  agent  of  the  International  of 
London,  and  James  L.  Howard,  who  had  taken  out  a  policy 
in  the  Mutual  Benefit  of  New  Jersey,  and  had  accepted  the 
agency  of  that  company,  who  first  called  the  attention  of  the 
people  to  the  value  of  life  insurance.  Several  prominent 
men  took  out  policies  in  the  Mutual  Benefit,  and  soon  the 
"interests  and  objects"  of  this  form  of  protection  were  the 
talk  of  the  town.     There  were  prejudices  in  some  minds 


Insurance  405 

against  an  attempt  to  gamble  with  death  and  to  put  a  stake 
upon  the  decrees  of  the  Almighty,  but  this  opposition  soon 
died  away  as  common  sense  came  to  the  front,  and  in  1846, 
a  charter  was  granted  to  ten  representative  citizens  of 
Hartford,  to  all  others  who  were  to  become  "members 
or  associates  with  them"  and  to  their  successors  to  form 
the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company.  The 
directors  thought  their  way  carefully  into  an  organization 
which  protected  the  company  from  disaster  in  the  early 
years,  and  led  the  way  later  to  a  distinguished  success  as 
a  mutual  company. 

The  element  that  gave  a  certain  security  for  a  time 
was  the  Guarantee  Fund — a  fund  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
formed  by  individual  notes  secured  by  at  least  one  respon- 
sible name,  one-half  payable  in  five  years  and  the  other  half 
in  ten  years,  or  sooner  if  required  by  the  company.  On 
December  7,  1846,  the  entire  amount  had  been  taken  up 
and  the  company  was  launched  with  the  watchword, 
Family  Protection.  No  risk  greater  than  five  thousand 
dollars  was  taken  on  any  life,  and  all  premiums  amounting 
to  fifty  dollars  on  policies  running  for  five  years  or  more 
could  be  paid  one-half  in  cash,  and  the  remainder  in  a  year 
with  surety,  bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent., 
subject  to  assessments  if  required  for  losses.  The  premium 
note  system  which  had  been  used  in  fire  insurance  enabled 
people  to  take  out  larger  policies  than  their  ready  cash 
admitted,  was  a  favorite  feature  of  the  early  practice,  and 
a  powerful  factor  in  the  majority  of  companies  of  the 
country  until  1869,  when  it  was  abandoned  by  the  Con- 
necticut Mutual,  largely  on  account  of  the  attitude  of  the  in- 
surance superintendent  of  New  York,  though  Elizur  Wright 
calls  it '  *  the  safest  possible  investment  of  the  company. ' '  The 
guarantee  capital  was  retired  in  1856,  when  the  assets  of  the 
company  were  over  two  millions  and  there  was  twenty-three 
millions  of  insurance;  thus  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company  became  purely  mutual. 


4o6  A  History  of  Connecticut 

There  was  little  scientific  knowledge  of  insurance  in  the 
country  before  i860,  and  the  method  of  disposing  of  the 
surplus  was  by  a  rule  of  thumb.  Until  1869,  the  Mutual 
divided  the  surplus  each  year  among  the  members  by  an 
equal  percentage  upon  the  premiums  paid  by  each,  on  the 
assumption  that  each  policy  produced  a  proportionate 
percentage  of  the  surplus.  The  injustice  of  this  to  the  older 
policy-holders  becoming  apparent,  in  1869,  the  Contribu- 
tion plan  was  adopted ;  a  more  intricate  but  more  equitable 
method,  used  by  this  and  other  companies.  This  company 
was  among  the  first  to  enter  the  then  so-called  western 
field  of  investments,  and  its  first  loan  there  was  in  1853; 
the  security  was  good,  the  rate  of  interest  attractive, 
and  the  results  so  favorable  that  in  1881,  the  company 
decided  to  take  on  farm  loans,  in  which  it  has  invested 
since  April  i,  1882,  one  hundred  and  six  million  dollars. 
It  has  also  put  millions  into  bonds  of  western  cities  and 
states,  and  the  amount  of  delinquent  interest  has  been  merely 
nominal.  In  the  early  times,  failure  to  pay  premiums  uni- 
versally forfeited  the  polic}'',  and  in  1864,  the  Connecticut 
Mutual  changed  the  form  of  its  contracts  so  as  to  give 
members  the  full  value  of  past  premiums  in  paid-up  insur- 
ance, when  they  found  it  inconvenient  to  continue  to  meet 
the  annual  premiums.  In  the  years  following  the  Civil 
War,  an  effort  made  by  real  estate  speculative  operators 
to  use  the  funds  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual  met  a  flat 
refusal  by  President  Goodwin,  and  the  conservatism  of  this 
company  appears  in  a  decision,  in  which  it  led  the 
way  among  the  companies  to  reckon  on  earning  three 
per  cent,  instead  of  four  on  the  assets.  Though  much 
criticized  at  the  time,  the  good  judgment  of  this  move 
has  been  generally  recognized,  and  this  method  has  been 
widely  adopted.  The  Connecticut  Mutual  also  declined 
to  adopt  the  Tontine  principle,  believing  it  to  be  speculative 
and  depraved,  a  position  which  ushered  the  company 
into  what  has  been  called  the  "Thirty  Years'  Warfare," 


Insurance  407 

leading  to  a  complete  vindication  of  its  policy.  It  has  now 
about  seventy  thousand  members,  carrying  two  hundred 
and  nine  millions  of  insurance,  and  the  accumulated  funds 
amount  to  seventy  millions.  Its  office  building  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Pearl  streets,  Hartford,  is  of  granite, 
and  is  one  of  the  noblest  structures  in  the  state.  Among  the 
leaders  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual  was  James  Goodwin, 
president  of  the  company  for  thirty  years  until  his  death  in 
1878,  a  man  of  exceptional  ability  in  conducting  loans  and 
investments.  No  abler  man  or  more  positive  force  for  wise 
and  honorable  insurance  has  appeared  in  Connecticut  than 
Colonel  Jacob  L.  Greene,  a  distinguished  soldier  in  the 
Civil  War,  who  was  president  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company  for  twenty-seven  years;  dying 
in  office  in  1905,  he  was  succeeded  by  John  M.  Taylor. 

The  short  lives  of  several  companies  are  a  part  of  the 
history  of  insurance,  and  one  of  this  sad  group  is  the  Ameri- 
can Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  Haven,  which 
was  incorporated  in  1847,  with  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman 
as  president.  The  low  rates  and  the  fame  of  the  president 
gave  the  company  a  brilliant  start  at  first,  but  careless 
management  involved  it  in  difficulties.  It  began  with  the 
assumption  that  it  could  realize  six  per  cent,  on  all  the  funds 
in  the  treasury,  and  it  made  on  that  basis  contracts,  which 
were  liable  to  run  fifty  years.  After  a  dismal  experience 
it  was  merged  in  1866,  in  the  American  National  Life  In- 
surance Company,  with  a  capital  stock  of  not  less  than  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  In  1871,  the  name  was  changed 
to  the  American  National  Life  and  Trust  Company,  and 
after  a  wretched  career  of  folly  and  crime,  the  receiver 
closed  the  trust  in  1893.  The  Connecticut  Health  Insurance 
Company,  starting  in  1848,  was  a  premature  attempt  to 
take  up  risks  which  the  Connecticut  Mutual  declined. 
It  was  well  officered,  and  occupied  the  block  it  built  for 
itself  on  Pearl  Street,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  the 
State  Bank.     It  tried   the  experiment  of  insuring  negro 


4o8  j\.  History  of  Connecticxit 

slaves  and  coolies  by  ship-loads,  and  though  premiums  were 
high,  the  most  unprincipled  masters  took  out  policies; 
Cato,  Jim,  and  Tom  could  not  be  identified,  so  the  shippers 
had  the  advantage,  and  knowing  the  percentage  of  loss, 
arranged  terms  to  suit  themselves.  The  company  ceased 
in  1857. 

The  Charter  Oak  Life  Insurance  Company  began  busi- 
ness in  1850,  with  brilliant  expectations,  under  the  leadership 
of  its  president,  Gideon  Welles,  who  soon  resigned.  Many 
of  the  agents  were  men  of  high  character  and  wide  influence, 
and  by  1869,  new  insurance  was  issued  to  the  amount  of 
eighteen  million  dollars,  but  the  home  management  was 
reckless,  weak  and  wasteful;  large  sums  were  loaned  to 
the  Valley  Railway,  an  expensive  building  erected  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Athenaeum  streets,  and  while  vigorous 
efforts  were  made  to  resist  dissolution,  in  1885,  it  went  into 
the  hands  of  a  receiver,  and  the  policy-holders  received  less 
than  twenty  cents  on  a  dollar.  In  the  same  class  with  the 
Charter  Oak  is  the  Continental,  which  was  organized  in 
1864;  after  years  of  crookedness,  in  which  the  president 
and  secretary  played  hide-and-seek  with  securities  and  com- 
missions of  investigation,  in  1886,  it  passed  into  the  hands 
of  receivers,  and  is  forgotten  except  by  those  who  suffered 
from  the  perjury  of  its  officers. 

The  Connecticut  General  Life  Insurance  Company  was 
chartered  in  1866,  with  a  capital  of  half  a  million  dollars, 
largeljT'  through  the  energy  of  Dr.  Guy  R.  Phelps,  with  the 
idea  of  insuring  men  who  could  not  pass  an  examination  for 
regular  insurance,  and  to  charge  them  higher  rates.  The 
plan  was  not  a  success,  and  it  was  soon  abandoned.  From 
the  date  of  the  change  the  company  has  steadily  grown,  not 
seeking  great  size,  but  eager  for  careful  risks  and  solid 
assets.  The  presidency  of  Thomas  W.  Russell,  from  1876, 
to  1 90 1,  was  eminently  prosperous,  and  the  long  service 
of  the  first  vice-president,  P.  Henry  Woodward,  deserves 
mention,  as  does  his  valuable  work  in  sketching  the  early 


Insurance  409 

history  of  insurance  companies.  The  first  offices  of  the 
Connecticut  General  were  on  Central  Row,  and  now  the 
home  is  in  a  commodious  building  on  Pearl  Street. 

The  Hartford  Life  and  Annuity  Insurance  Company 
was  chartered  in  1866,  as  the  Hartford  Accident  Insurance 
Company,  with  the  privilege  of  insuring  on  the  life  plan. 
When  it  appeared  shortly  that  accident  insurance  was 
unprofitable  the  name  was  changed  to  the  present  title,  and 
in  1868,  the  accident '  featiire  was  dropped.  There  were 
trying  years,  but  in  1880,  a  form  of  natural  premium  insur- 
ance was  adopted,  combining  low  cost  and  security,  requir- 
ing policy-holders  to  pay  only  for  the  actual  mortality  of 
the  members,  as  it  occurs  in  quarterly  periods.  Applicants 
pay  a  fee  according  to  the  amount  of  insurance,  an  annual 
fee  for  expenses,  and  a  fee  for  the  safety  fund,  maintained 
at  one  million  dollars.  It  is  the  first  insurance  company  in 
the  country  to  do  business  on  an  assessment  plan  with 
ample  security, — a  plan  which  this  company  has  found  to 
be  rational,  safe,  and  profitable. 

The  year  after  its  incorporation  in  18 19,  the  ^tna  Fire 
Insurance  Company  obtained  an  amendment  to  its  charter, 
authorizing  it  to  grant  annuities  upon  an  additional  capital. 
This  privilege  was  never  exercised,  and  in  1850,  the  ^tna 
Insurance  Company  Annuity  Fund  was  organized  with  the 
same  officers  as  the  parent  company.  In  1853,  it  was 
decided  that  it  would  be  best  to  separate  the  control  of  the 
two  institutions,  and  the  ^tna  Life  Insurance  Company 
was  launched,  with  E.  A.  Bulkley  as  president.  For  ten 
years  the  growth  was  slow,  and  the  policies  were  written 
on  the  proprietary  plan,  but  in  1 861,  it  began  to  issue 
policies  on  the  mutual  plan  also,  giving  applicants  the  choice 
between  the  two  methods,  and  the  development  became 
more  rapid,  being  conducted  with  caution  and  energy.  This 
company  was  among  the  first  to  loan  money  to  farmers  in 
Illinois  and  Iowa;  the  rate  was  ten  percent,,  and  there  was 
seldom  a  default,  since  trained  and  careful  agents  were  on 


4IO  A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

the  field.  It  had  similar  success  in  its  large  investments  in 
the  bonds  of  prosperous  western  cities,  bearing  seven  and 
three-tenths  per  cent,  interest.  In  1 891,  it  opened  an  acci- 
dent department,  and  six  years  later  it  had  in  force  nearly 
eighty  million  dollars  in  accident  insurance,  with  more  than 
eighteen  thousand  policies.  In  sixty  years,  the  company 
has  passed  from  its  home  in  a  small  room  upstairs  on  State 
Street  to  the  elegant  building  on  Main  Street.  There  was 
organized  in  1907,  a  distinct  company  with  a  capital  of  half 
a  million  dollars  owned  by  ^tna  Life  stockholders,  a  distinct 
company  called  the  ^tna  Accident  and  Liability  Company, 
to  cover  property  losses  through  accident,  and  it  has  been 
highly  successful. 

Following  a  temperance  reform,  there  was  organized,  in 
1 85 1,  the  American  Temperance  Life  Insurance  Company, 
and  on  the  strength  of  the  belief  that  total  abstainers  live 
much  longer  than  others,  the  founders  of  the  company, 
meeting  at  the  office  of  the  Fountain,  a  leading  temperance 
journal,  and  making  Benjamin  E.  Hale,  the  editor  of  that 
paper,  president,  announced  that  the  policies  would  be 
issued  at  about  ten  per  cent,  below  current  rates.  There  were 
difficulties  from  the  question  which  arose  in  case  of  a  death 
claim — whether  the  person  had  kept  the  pledge.  After 
a  time  the  order  was  put  forth  that  with  every  proof  of 
death  there  should  be  a  special  certificate  declaring  that  the 
insured  had  not  forgotten  the  abstinence  provision  in  the 
application.  Alter  the  temperance  wave  had  passed,  and 
the  question  of  slavery  had  come  to  the  front,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  company  was  not  popular,  it  was  decided  in 
1 86 1,  to  abandon  the  temperance  feature  and  by  act  of  the 
legislature  the  name  was  changed  to  the  Phoenix  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company,  and  it  soon  sprang  to  fresh  vigor. 
In  1889,  permission  was  granted  by  the  legislature  to  make 
the  Phoenix  purely  mutual,  and  since  that  time  the  progress 
of  the  company  has  been  rapid,  so  that  it  has  reached  a 
secure  place  among  the  solid  institutions  of  the  country. 


Insxirance  411 

In  1863,  while  passing  through  England,  James  G. 
Batterson  became  interested  in  casualty  insurance,  and 
was  convinced  that  the  system  could  be  advantageously 
transplanted  to  the  United  States,  and  in  May,  1863,  he 
petitioned  the  legislature  for  an  act  of  incorporation  as  a 
"railway  passenger  insurance  company"  under  the  name  of 
the  Travelers  Insurance  Company,  to  cover  loss  of  life 
and  personal  injury  while  traveling  by  railway,  steamboat, 
or  any  other  mode  of  conveyance.  The  following  year  the 
charter  was  amended  to  permit  the  company  to  insure 
against  all  kinds  of  accidents,  and  James  G.  Batterson,  a 
native  of  Bloomfield,  was  chosen  president.  The  company 
began  in  the  humblest  way ;  the  first  office  was  on  the  second 
floor  to  save  rent,  and  was  furnished  with  two  chairs  and  a 
second-hand  pine  desk  set  on  a  cheap  table.  For  a  time 
the  officers  did  the  work,  staying  late  into  the  night  to 
learn  the  principles  of  this  new  form  of  insurance,  and  after 
a  time  they  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  an  office  boy.  The 
contagion  started  by  the  Travelers  spread,  and  in  1865, 
and  1866,  a  swarm  of  competitors  entered  the  field,  and 
soon  died.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  stockholders  it  was 
voted  to  increase  the  capital  from  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  At  the  end  of 
1865,  a  stock  dividend  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  was  ordered. 
Since  then  the  company  has  grown  to  its  present  propor- 
tions, and  its  strength  is  symbolized  by  the  massive  building 
which  houses  it. 

Another  and  a  novel  form  of  insurance  successful  in 
Connecticut  is  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and 
Insurance  Company,  which  was  chartered  in  1866,  "for 
inspecting  steam  boilers,  and  for  insuring  against  loss  or 
damage  to  property  arising  from  explosions  or  other  accident 
in  the  use  of  steam  boilers."  J.  M.  Allen,  who  was  born  in 
Enfield,  was  chosen  president,  and  the  most  rigid  economy 
was  practiced;  for  five  years  the  company  occupied  a  room 
eighteen  feet  square,  but  the  work  was  thorough,  a  costly 


412  A  History  of  Connectic\it 

and  scientific  study  was  made  of  boilers,  and  approved 
ways  suggested  to  reduce  disasters.  A  monthly  journal, 
the  Locomotive,  was  published,  and  distributed  by  the 
thousands.  Boilers  under  its  care  are  visited  by  experts, 
and  the  matter  of  riveting  joints  has  been  worked  out 
scientifically.  A  chemical  laboratory  to  analyze  water  and 
point  out  counter-agents  to  that  which  corrodes  or  pro- 
duces scales  is  maintained,  and  the  business  has  grown  to 
the  care  of  thousands  of  boilers,  largely  because  the  company 
prefers  to  go  to  heavy  expense  to  prevent  accident  rather 
than  to  meet  the  cost  of  disaster.  It  is  found  that  the  an- 
nual explosions  average  about  one  one-hundredth  of  one 
per  cent,  of  boilers  insured. 

Of  late  there  has  been  a  widening  of  the  field  of  insurance 
to  cover  burglary,  automobiles,  plate  glass,  employers' 
liability,  fly  wheels,  tornadoes,  real  estate  titles  and  general 
liability;  many  of  the  best  financiers  are  enlisted  in  pro- 
moting vast  and  powerful  methods  of  conserving  business, 
protecting  the  interests  and  increasing  the  welfare  of  the 
people.  Every  variety  of  policy  that  inventive  minds  can 
think  of  is  offered  to  meet  every  taste  and  desire,  and  to 
provide  against  all  possible  dangers  to  property  and  life. 
The  business  of  suretyship,  generally  classed  as  a  branch  of 
insurance,  but  sometimes  regarded  as  having  few  elements 
of  insurance  in  it,  has  been  tried  in  Connecticut.  The 
Mino.  Indemnity  Company,  chartered  in  1897,  succumbed 
after  a  few  years.  The  ^Etna  Accident  and  Liability  Com- 
pany has  recently  begun  this  kind  of  business,  and  is  now 
entirely  engaged  in  it.  The  assessment  form  of  insurance, 
so  common  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  also  prevailed  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  the  state.  Most  of  the  companies 
engaged  in  that  form  of  insurance  went  into  involuntary 
insolvency,  and  to-day  there  are  none  of  Connecticut  origin 
remaining  and  doing  an  active  business  here.  The  so-called 
industrial  business,  which  is  the  insuring  of  the  lives  of  those 
to  whom  the  payment  of  large  sums  would  be  a  hardship. 


Insvirance  413 

a  business  that  calls  for  the  payment  of  small  sums  every 
week  or  month,  has  also  been  tried  in  Connecticut,  though 
with  little  success.  The  People's  of  Norwich  was  organized 
for  this  purpose,  but  it  reinsured  its  risks  about  twenty 
years  ago.  The  legislature  granted  a  charter  in  191 1,  to 
the  First  Reinsurance  Company  of  Hartford,  allowing  the 
company  to  reinsure  any  kind  of  risk,  life,  fire,  accident,  or 
whatever  it  may  be,  a  form  of  insurance  entirely  new  to 
this  country,  though  in  vogue  in  Europe  for  years.  The 
General  Assembly  of  19 13,  took  action  leading  toward  a 
completion  of  earlier  laws  to  bring  fraternal  organizations 
under  state  supervision  and  to  place  them  on  a  solid  basis. 
The  Compensation  Act  to  secure  to  workingmen  compensa- 
tion in  case  of  injury  or  death  through  accident  was  also 
passed  in  1913,  and  arrangements  made  to  determine  the 
awards.  Manifold  and  varied  is  insurance  in  Connecticut, 
which  has  grown  to  vast  proportions,  a  system  in  which 
sagacity  and  benevolence  combine  to  soften  the  ills  of  dis- 
aster and  provide  for  the  uncertain  future. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
TRANSPORTATION 

IT  was  a  long  step  from  the  tiresome  stage-coach  and  the 
weary  haul  over  poor  roads  and  up  steep  hills,  to  the 
fast  trains ;  from  the  schooners  and  sloops  that  went  creeping 
along  rivers  and  Sound,  to  daily  steamboats,  tugs,  and 
freighters;  but  the  change  came  as  factories  rose,  cities  grew 
populous,  and  business  urged.  Connecticut  was  decidedly 
conservative  in  the  introduction  of  railroads,  and  if  John 
Fitch,  whose  invention  of  the  art  of  applying  steam  to  navi- 
gation, had  been  encouraged  in  his  native  state,  he  might 
have  been  spared  his  sad  end,  and  steamboats  might  have 
been  plying  on  the  Connecticut  River  several  years  before 
the  days  of  Fulton.  There  was  much  opposition  to  the  new 
method  of  carrying  people  and  freight,  arising  from  various 
worries:  farmers  feared  that  horses  would  lose  value,  and 
hay  and  grain  cease  to  sell;  landlords  shrank  from  bank- 
ruptcy; stage-drivers  saw  their  stages  in  the  scrap-heap  and 
themselves  in  the  poorhouse;  owners  of  coasting  vessels 
dreaded  competition,  and  there  was  an  uneasy  feeling 
prevailing  that  the  revenue  which  was  left  at  the  toll-gates 
of  the  turnpikes  would  fill  the  fat  coffers  of  the  railroad 
corporations.  The  Sound,  the  Thames,  and  the  Connecticut 
were  doing  their  best  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  people,  and 
in  the  year  1822,  a  business  man  who  had  an  appointment 
in  New  York  could  leave  Hartford  for  Saybrook  on  the 
steamboat  Experiment,   Captain   Haskell,   on  Tuesday  or 

414 


Transportation  415 

Friday,  and  return  on  the  following  day.  But  it  was  well 
known  that  the  Erie  Canal  with  its  two  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  was  open,  and  public-spirited  men  of  New  Haven 
determined  to  have  a  water  communication  with  the 
interior. 

The  growing  desire  for  an  extensive  waterway  north- 
ward came  to  a  practical  plan  on  January  29,  1822,  when 
there  was  a  meeting  of  citizens  of  seventeen  towns  at  Farm- 
ington.  In  May  of  that  year,  the  Farmington  Canal 
Company  was  chartered  to  construct  a  canal  from  the  tide- 
waters of  New  Haven  to  Southwick,  Massachusetts,  to 
connect  with  the  Hampden  and  Hampshire  Canal  in 
Massachusetts,  and  that  was  to  be  continued  northward 
to  the  St.  Lawrence  River.  This  grand  scheme  was  expected 
to  rival  the  Erie  Canal.  Subscriptions  came  in  slowly 
until  the  plan  was  formed  of  giving  the  Mechanics  Bank 
of  New  Haven  a  charter,  on  condition  that  it  would  subscribe 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  stock  of  the  Canal  Com- 
pany. On  July  4,  1825,  the  ceremony  of  beginning  the 
excavations  took  place  in  Granby  in  the  presence  of  two  or 
three  thousand  people.  In  1828,  the  canal  was  complete 
from  Southwick  Ponds  to  Long  Island  Sound,  and  water 
was  let  in.  There  were  great  celebrations  and  large  ex- 
pectations, and  for  seven  years  there  was  considerable 
business  done.  In  1835,  the  canal  was  finished  to  the 
Connecticut  River.  The  company  did  not  own  the  boats, 
but  allowed  any  one  to  use  it  on  paying  toll;  this  barely 
paid  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  company,  while  the  heavy 
debt  and  extensive  damages  to  the  canal  in  1836,  made  it 
necessary  that  some  measure  of  relief  be  found.  It  was 
decided  that  the  New  Haven  and  Northampton  Company 
should  be  formed,  and  the  stock  of  the  Farmington  Canal 
Company  was  relinquished.  The  new  organization  came 
into  existence  June  22,  1836,  with  a  net  capital  of  $120,184. 
About  that  time  there  appeared  a  rival  more  formidable 
even  than  the  river.     On  December  3,  1838,  the  Hartford 


4i6  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

and  New  Haven  Railroad  was  opened  from  New  Haven  to 
Meriden,  and  the  time  over  the  eighteen  miles  was  fifty- 
seven  minutes.  The  canal  did  not  cease  its  work  at  once; 
in  1 84 1,  it  was  extended  to  the  upper  parts  of  Vermont  and 
New  Hampshire.  Boats  were  plying  on  the  canal  imtil 
1845,  when  a  heavy  drought  followed  by  a  serious  breach 
in  the  embankment  so  discouraged  the  stockholders  that 
no  further  advances  were  made;  in  1848,  a  railroad  was 
opened  from  New  Haven  to  Plainville,  and  the  Farmington 
Canal  became  a  thing  of  the  past. 

The  people  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state,  being  largely 
interested  in  manufacturing,  and  learning  from  the  experi- 
ence of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  that  railroads 
would  soon  be  indispensable,  petitioned  the  legislature  for 
the  incorporation  of  a  company  to  build  a  railroad  from 
Norwich  to  New  London,  and  also  one  from  Norwich  toward 
Boston.  In  May,  1832,  a  charter  was  granted  to  the  Boston, 
Norwich,  and  New  London  Railroad  Company,  authorizing 
a  capital  stock  of  ten  thousand  shares.  In  1836,  this  com- 
pany was  consolidated  with  the  Norwich  and  Worcester 
Railroad  Company ;  it  was  open  for  traffic  between  Norwich 
and  New  London  on  December  14,  1839,  and  with  Worcester 
in  the  following  March.  At  the  same  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture articles  of  incorporation  were  granted  for  a  railroad, 
to  begin  at  the  western  border  line  of  the  town  of  Sharon, 
to  run  northerly  through  Salisbury,  to  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  state.  Privilege  was  also  granted  to  make  an  exten- 
sion in  Berkshire  County,  Massachusetts,  to  intersect  other 
railroads.  A  franchise  was  given  to  build  a  railroad  from 
Stonington  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  state,  under  the 
name  of  the  New  York  and  Stonington  Railroad  Company. 
In  1833,  this  road  was  consolidated  with  the  New  York, 
Providence  and  Boston  Railroad  Company.  The  road  was 
open  for  traffic,  November  10,  1837,  connections  being 
made  with  New  York  by  steamers. 

In  1835,  the  legislature  granted  articles  of  incorporation 


w 


« 


Transportation  417 

for  a  road  between  Hartford  and  New  Haven.  The  road 
was  open  from  New  Haven  to  Meriden  in  1838,  and  in  the 
next  year  to  Hartford.  Through  passengers  were  carried 
from  Hartford  to  Springfield  by  stage-coaches,  there  to 
connect  with  the  Western  Railroad  for  Boston.  The 
decade  1840-50,  known  as  the  Railroad  Era,  gave  a  vigorous 
impetus  to  the  industry,  and  in  Connecticut  the  mileage 
rose  from  one  hundred  and  seventeen  to  five  hundred  and 
fifty-one.  On  December  19,  1848,  the  New  York  and 
New  Haven  Railroad  was  opened  to  the  public,  thereby 
completing  an  all-rail  connection  between  Boston  and  New 
York,  and  three  trains  were  run  daily  between  New  Haven 
and  New  York.  On  July  22,  1852,  trains  began  to  run 
between  New  London  and  New  Haven,  and  in  1858,  from 
New  London  to  Stonington,  making  a  second  continuous 
rail  route  from  New  York  to  Boston.  It  took  the  name  of 
Shore  Line.  Charters  were  granted  to  several  other  com- 
panies to  build  roads  in  the  era  of  railroad  fever  following 
1840,  until  the  state  was  well  covered:  Middletown  and 
Berlin  in  1844;  the  New  Haven  and  Northampton  in  1846; 
New  London  Northern  in  1847;  Valley  Railroad  in  1870; 
and  the  Boston  and  New  York  Air  Line  was  completed  from 
New  Haven  to  Willimantic  in  1873. 

The  railroad  from  Willimantic  to  Fishkill  had  a  trying 
time  from  the  year  1833,  when  the  Assembly  granted  a 
charter  to  build  a  road  from  Hartford  to  Bolton,  to  1881, 
when  the  road  from  Waterbury  to  Brewster  was  completed, 
and  the  same  year  to  Fishkill  on  the  Hudson.  Failing  to 
pay  expenses,  on  December  31,  1883,  it  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver.  The  consolidation  in  1872,  of  the  New 
York  and  New  Haven  and  the  New  Haven,  Hartford,  and 
Springfield  companies,  known  as  the  Consolidated  Road, 
created  a  corporation,  absorbing  nearly  all  the  other  roads  of 
the  state.  The  Hartford  and  Connecticut  Western  was 
opened  to  the  public  in  1871,  and  it  has  since  been  bought 
by  the  Consolidated  Company. 


4i8  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

In  1850,  the  General  Assembly  created  a  board  of  three 
commissioners  to  be  known  as  Railroad  Commissioners, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  examine  the  railroads  of  the  state 
twice  a  year  or  oftener,  and  they  were  authorized  to  require 
corporations  to  make  repairs  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the 
public.  The  act  was  amended  in  1853,  and  the  duties  of  the 
Commissioners  more  fully  specified;  they  were  empowered 
to  oblige  the  companies  to  use  all  safeguards  to  prevent 
injuries.  Blanks  were  to  be  furnished  the  corporations,  on 
which  full  statistics  and  returns  were  required.  The 
officials  were  requested  to  notify  the  commissioners,  within 
twenty-four  hours,  of  all  accidents  attended  with  serious 
personal  injuries.  The  commissioners  make  an  annual 
report  to  the  legislature,  and  in  their  report  of  1855-56,  not 
quite  a  quarter  of  a  century  from  the  time  of  the  granting 
of  the  first  railroad  charter,  they  stated  that  the  capital 
stock  of  the  corporations  operating  in  Connecticut  was 
over  twenty-three  million  dollars,  of  which  over  eighteen 
millions  was  paid  in;  that  these  companies  operated  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-two  miles  of  road,  of  which  five 
hundred  and  ninety  was  within  the  state;  that  the  cost  of 
construction  and  equipment  had  been  over  twenty-nine 
millions.  The  capital  stock  in  1913,  was  over  one  hundred 
millions,  and  there  are  more  than  a  thousand  miles  of  rail- 
road in  the  state. 

In  1907,  an  important  Commission  on  Public  Service 
Corporations  was  appointed  by  the  legislature,  and  two  years 
later  it  advised  the  appointment  of  a  permanent  Public 
Utilities  Commission  to  be  in  session  all  the  time:  to  grant 
franchises,  supervise  condemnation  of  land  and  capitalization 
of  corporations,  ascertain  the  facts  concerning  the  financial 
and  physical  conditions,  also  the  causes  of  accidents,  to  super- 
vise their  operation  so  far  as  affects  the  public  safety  and  to 
establish  rates,  when  existing  rates  are  purely  supervisory. 
In  accordance  with  these  recommendations,  the  legislature 
in  191 1,  appointed  such  an  advisory  commission. 


Transportation  419 

With  the  immense  increase  of  business  and  traffic  in  and 
across  the  state,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  railroads  should 
come  together  into  a  vast  system  with  connections  by  water 
and  with  neighboring  states.  The  New  York,  New  Haven, 
and  Hartford  Company  controlled  briefly  a  large  part  of  the 
railroads  of  New  England.  It  has  acquired  many  electric 
roads,  and  is  introducing  electricity  as  a  motive  power  on  its 
main  line.  Grade  crossings  are  being  removed,  steel  cars 
introduced,  the  block  system  adopted,  germs  held  up  by 
hygienic  drinking  cups,  palace  and  dining  cars  multiplied, 
and  fast  trains  installed. 

The  street-car  system  is  an  interesting  and  important 
feature  of  transportation.  On  June  18,  1859,  a  charter  was 
granted  the  Hartford  and  Wethersfield  Horse  Rail  Road 
Company  to  lay  tracks  between  the  two  places,  and  in  the 
following  year  the  Fair  Haven  and  Westville  Company  was 
chartered  to  gridiron  New  Haven.  Since  then  a  large 
number  of  companies  has  been  incorporated,  of  which  the 
capital  stock  in  1912,  was  $62,670,100,  bonds  $i9,2i7,ooo> 
taxes  to  the  state  $455,155.  The  change  from  horses  to 
electricity  as  motive  power  ibegan  in  the  summer  of  1895, 
with  a  company  in  Ansonia,  and  in  September,  a  month 
later,  the  Hartford  and  Wethersfield  line  was  equipped  with 
the  trolley.  Express  cars  are  run  on  some  of  the  roads,  also 
baggage  and  freight  cars,  to  carry  local  freight,  cracked 
stone  for  the  highway  and  other  uses,  peaches,  apples,  and 
coal.  It  is  found  that,  on  the  average,  the  entire  population 
in  the  suburbs  of  the  cities  makes  a  trip  to  the  local  metropolis 
at  least  once  a  week.  It  is  plain  that  Connecticut  has 
traveled  long  since  Levi  Pease  drove  his  "old  and  shackling" 
wagons  on  the  Boston  stage  route. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
THE  POOR  LAW 

ALMOST  from  the  beginning,  it  became  necessary  for 
the  authorities  to  take  action  concerning  the  care  of 
paupers,  semi-paupers,  and  vagrants,  or,  as  they  came  to 
be  known  in  later  years,  tramps;  as  the  poptilation  in- 
creased, and  the  civilization  became  more  complex,  the 
problems  multiplied,  and  the  strain  widened.  In  1690, 
the  Lords  of  the  Plantation  Committee  of  the  English 
Privy  Council  asked  from  Connecticut  a  detailed  statement 
of  the  condition  of  the  colony;  one  question  was:  "What 
provision  is  there  made  ...  for  relieving  poor,  decayed, 
and  impotent  persons?"  The  colonial  government  replied: 
"For  the  poor,  it  is  ordered  that  they  be  relieved  by  the 
towns  where  they  live,  every  town  providing  for  its  own  poor; 
and  so  for  impotent  persons.  There  is  seldom  any  relief 
because  labor  is  dear,  viz.  two  shillings  and  sometimes,  two 
shillings  sixpence  a  day  for  a  day  laborer,  and  provision 
cheap."  This  suggests  the  Connecticut  system  of  relief 
for  the  poor — a  town  matter.  In  March,  1640,  Hartford 
voted  to  set  aside  twenty  acres  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
"for  the  accommodating  of  several  poor  men  that  the  town 
shall  think  meet  to  accommodate  there."  This  is  the  first 
trace  we  find  in  the  colony  of  what  afterward  developed  into 
the  poor-farm,  and  soon  after  this  New  Haven  took  the 
first  steps  toward  adopting  two  other  methods  which  be- 
came prominent  later.     One  was  the  partial  relief  of  people 

420 


The  Poor  La-w  421 

in  their  own  homes.  In  1645,  the  proposition  was  made 
to  the  court  that  "Sister  Lampson  should  be  provided  for 
at  the  town's  charge,  so  far  forth  as  her  husband  is  not  able 
to  do  it."  There  is  no  statement  of  action  by  the  town,  but 
it  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  action  was  taken, 
since  three  years  later,  she  was  in  the  home  of  the  marshal. 
The  other  method  was  used  in  1657,  for  the  relief  of  persons, 
who,  it  was  reported,  had  arrived  in  Southold  after  suffering 
many  hardships.  They  had  been  relieved  by  the  town,  and 
the  court  ordered  that  five  pounds  be  allowed  toward  their 
support,  the  sum  to  be  paid  by  Southold,  and  deducted  from 
the  next  town  tax  payable  to  the  colony.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  relief  by  the  colony,  through  the  towns. 

It  was  thought  necessary,  almost  from  the  start,  to 
guard  against  imposition  in  the  support  of  strangers.  As 
early  as  February,  1636,  the  head  of  a  family  was  forbidden 
to  entertain  any  young  man  as  a  member  of  the  family 
without  permission  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  town. 
Neither  could  a  young  man,  who  was  unmarried  or  without 
a  servant,  keep  house  by  himself  without  permission,  unless 
he  was  a  public  officer.  Twenty  shillings  a  week  was  the 
penalty  for  violating  either  provision.  In  1673,  the  power 
to  permit  a  householder  to  take  boarders  was  vested  in  the 
selectmen.  In  1639,  Hartford  voted  that  any  one  enter- 
taining one  "not  admitted  an  inhabitant  in  the  town  above 
one  month  without  leave  from  the  town,"  was  "to  dis- 
charge the  town  of  any  cost  or  trouble  that"  might  "come 
thereby,  and  be  liable  to  be  called  in  question  for  the  same." 
Similar  action  was  taken  by  New  Haven  in  1656.  The  head 
of  the  family  was  to  "observe  the  course,  carriage,  and 
behavior,  of  every  single  person,  whether  he  walk  diligently 
in  a  constant  lawful  employment,  attending  both  family 
duties  and  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  keeping  good 
order  day  and  night."  The  penalty  for  taking  boarders, 
or  boarding  contrary  to  law,  was  a  fine.  The  Assembly, 
in  1667,  voted  to  prohibit  entertainment  (of  strangers,  and 


422  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

ordered  that  any  person  coming  into  a  town  and  remaining 
there,  after  being  warned  to  depart,  was  to  be  punished  by  a 
fine  of  twenty  shillings  a  week,  or  either  sitting  in  the  stocks 
for  an  hour  every  week  or  receiving  corporal  punishment. 
The  reason  for  the  passage  of  this  act  was  that  "certain 
persons  have  thrust  themselves  into  the  several  plantations 
to  the  unjust  disturbance  of  the  same."  The  purpose  of 
these  laws  was  to  keep  out  undesirable  elements  and  prevent 
the  admission  of  those  who  were  likely  to  become  public 
charges.  In  the  law  of  1656,  passed  by  the  New  Haven 
colony,  no  one  was  to  entertain  a  stranger  who  came  to 
settle  or  sojourn,  or  sell  or  lease  to  him  any  real  estate,  or  to 
permit  him  to  remain  more  than  a  month,  without  the 
written  permission  of  a  local  magistrate,  or  a  majority  of  the 
freemen,  under  penalty  of  ten  pounds.  Masters  were  re- 
quired to  provide  for  servants  in  illness,  and  if  the  illness  was 
due  to  the  fault  of  the  master,  he  might  be  responsible  for 
maintenance,  or  recompense  for  a  longer  time.  Otherwise 
the  plantation  provided  for  the  sick  servant.  It  was  also 
ordered  that  if  any  person,  with  or  without  license,  should 
sojourn  in  a  plantation  for  a  whole  year,  he  should  be  ac- 
counted an  inhabitant  there.  This  was  the  first  law  in 
Connecticut  by  which  one  could  gain  residence  by  a  mere 
settlement,  including  the  right  to  support  without  danger  of 
removal.  These  laws  of  the  New  Haven  colony  were  in 
force  only  until  the  union  with  Connecticut,  but  they  em- 
body principles  which  were  adopted  in  substance  in  the 
united  colony. 

As  early  as  1650,  the  Court  of  magistrates  was  consid- 
ered the  authority  to  settle  "all  differences  about  the 
lawful  settling  and  providing  for  poor  persons,"  and  also 
to  dispose  of  "all  unsettled  persons,  into  such  towns  as 
they  shall  judge  to  be  most  fit  for  the  maintenance  and 
employment  of  such  persons  and  families  for  the  ease  of 
the  country."  Another  step  forward  was  taken  in  1673, 
when  it  was  ordered  that 


THe  Poor  La-w  423 

every  town  shall  maintain  their  own  poor.  If  any  person  come 
to  live  in  any  town  and  be  there  received  and  entertained  three 
months,  if  by  sickness,  lameness  or  the  like,  he  comes  to  want 
of  relief;  he  shall  be  provided  for  by  that  town,  and  shall  be  re- 
puted their  proper  charge,  unless  within  the  said  three  months 
he  has  been  warned  by  the  constable,  or  by  some  one  or  more  of 
the  selectmen,  not  there  to  abide  without  leave  first  obtained 
from  the  town. 

In  1682,  another  law  was  passed  to  head  off  people  of 
"ungoverned  conversation,"  who  were  thrusting  themselves 
into  the  towns,  often  proving  vicious  and  burdensome.  It 
was  ordered  that  no  persons  but  "prentices  under  age  or 
servants  bought  for  hire"  may  reside  in  any  township 
without  permission  from  the  justices  of  the  peace  and  the 
selectmen,  under  penalty  of  twenty  shillings  a  week.  A 
fresh  clause  was  added  to  the  old  law,  providing  that  the 
vagrant  or  suspected  person  was  to  be  "sent  from  constable 
to  constable  to  the  place  from  whence  they  come,  unless 
they  produce  good  certificate  that  they  are  persons  of 
good  behavior,  and  free  from  all  engagements,  and  at  liberty 
to  remove  themselves  where  they  may  best  advantage 
themselves." 

In  1690,  a  still  more  stringent  law  was  passed,  designed 
to  prevent  negro  slaves  from  running  away,  but  it  was  made 
to  apply  to  "vagrant  or  suspected  persons  found  wandering 
from  town  to  town  having  no  passes."  Ferrymen  were 
ordered  to  stop  them  and  take  them  before  the  next  justice, 
to  examine  and  dispose  of  according  to  law.  In  the  revision 
of  1702,  these  laws  were  brought  together  under  the  title, 
"Inhabitants,  whom  to  be  admitted." 

1.  Only  those  of  an  "honest  conversation,  accepted  by 
the  major  part  of  the  town." 

2.  No  transients,  except  apprentices  under  age  and 
servants  bought  for  time,  without  approval  of  authority 
and  selectmen. 

3.  A  fine  of  twenty  shillings  a  week  for  the  use  of  the 


424  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

poor  of  the  town  was  to  be  paid  by  persons  letting  a  house 
to  or  entertaining  such  people,  unless  security  was  given 
to  save  the  town  from  expense. 

4.  Vagrants  and  suspects  were  to  be  sent  from  constable 
to  constable  to  the  place  whence  they  came,  and  it  was 
added  that  if  they  returned  after  warning  and  still  remained 
in  town,  they  should  be  "severely  whipped,  not  exceeding 
ten  stripes." 

5.  No  single  person  might  be  entertained,  save  by  per- 
mission of  selectmen. 

6.  All  boarders  and  sojourners  in  a  family  were  to 
"carefully  attend  the  worship  of  God  in  those  families  where 
they  reside,  and  be  subject  to  the  domestic  government  of 
the  same,  upon  penalty  of  forfeiting  five  shillings  for  every 
breach  of  this  act." 

The  laws  of  1702,  provided  for  the  care  of  unsettled 
persons  who  fell  ill  after  a  residence  of  three  months.  There 
were  early  tokens  of  the  desire  of  the  towns  to  force  people 
to  take  care  of  their  relatives.  In  1651,  on  the  application 
of  the  selectmen  of  Hartford,  who  complained  that  John 
Lord  had  "withdrawn  himself  from  his  wife  and  left  her 
destitute  of  a  bed  to  lodge  on,  and  very  bare  in  apparel,  to 
the  endangering  of  her  health, "  it  was  voted  that  they  "re- 
quire of  the  said  John  Lord  the  wearing  apparel  of  his  wife, 
and  also  a  bed  for  her  to  lodge  on,  and  also  to  search  after 
the  same  in  any  place  within  this  jurisdiction,  and  to  restore 
it  unto  her."  Usually  the  colony  allowed  every  town  to 
enforce  the  duty  of  support  upon  its  own  inhabitants. 

By  the  revision  of  1702,  in  a  chapter  entitled  Poor,  the 
method  of  administration  was  prescribed.  Selectmen  or 
overseers  of  the  poor  were  to  relieve  the  poor  so  far  as  five 
pounds  would  extend;  and  if  more  were  needed,  they  were 
to  disburse  more  "for  the  supplying  victuals,  clothing,  fire- 
wood, or  any  other  thing  necessary  for  their  support  or 
subsistence."  The  selectmen  were  called  to  strict  account, 
and  poor  and  idle  persons  were  to  be  put  to  service.     In 


THe  Poor  La-w  425 

171 1,  a  law  was  passed  entitled  Sickness,  providing  against 
the  spread  of  contagious  sickness,  and  directing  that  when 
any  person  was  visited  by  sickness  in  any  other  town  than 
that  in  which  he  belonged,  and  became  a  charge  to  such  town, 
the  selectmen  were  to  lay  the  account  before  the  County 
Court  where  the  town  was  to  which  the  person  belonged,  and 
the  court  was  to  call  on  the  treasurer  of  the  town  for  the 
money,  in  case  the  person,  his  parents,  or  masters  could  not 
pay  it.  In  case  the  sick  person  was  from  a  place  outside 
the  colony,  the  expense  was  borne  by  the  treasury  of  Con- 
necticut. Another  method  of  relieving  the  poor  was  by 
exempting  from  taxation.  Almost  from  the  beginning, 
it  was  the  custom  to  care  for  the  old  soldiers;  in  1676,  the 
Assembly  ordered  that  all  soldiers  "wounded  in  the  country 
service"  should  "have  cure  and  diet  on  the  country  account, 
and  half  pay"  till  they  were  cured.  A  year  later,  the  other 
half  of  their  pay  was  voted.  Other  private  bills  granted 
land-exemption  from  taxation  and  medical  expenses. 

The  revision  of  1702,  required  the  town  officers  to  appren- 
tice the  children  of  paupers,  if  they  were  allowed  by  their 
parents  "to  live  idly  or  misspend  their  time  in  loitering." 
The  length  of  service  was  specified,  "a  man  child  until  twenty- 
one  years;  and  a  woman  child  to  the  age  of  eighteen,  or 
time  of  marriage."  This  method  had  been  employed  in 
England;  giving  the  boys  and  girls  home  care,  and  if 
masters  were  cruel,  there  was  provision  for  relief. 

The  most  serious  defect  in  those  early  laws  was  in  the 
treatment  of  the  vagrant,  sending  him  back  "from  constable 
to  constable,"  a  method  slightly  superior  to  the  present  lack 
of  all  method  in  the  treatment  of  tramps,  but  unscientific 
and  unsatisfactory.  The  first  law  on  this  subject  was 
passed  in  1713.  The  preamble  stated  that  "several  persons, 
wanderers  and  others,  have  by  their  vile  and  profane  dis- 
course and  actions  proved  a  snare  to  youth  especially,  and 
tends  to  the  great  detriment  of  religion,"  therefore  it  was 
enacted  that  county  jails  should  be  houses  of  correction  for 


426  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

wanderers  convicted  before  a  justice.  At  the  next  County 
Court  there  was  to  be  a  trial,  and  the  judge  might  order  the 
offender  "to  be  chastened  by  whipping  on  his  or  her  naked 
back,  in  such  jail,  and  to  be  kept  to  such  labor  as  such 
offender  is  capable  of."  The  term  of  imprisonment  was 
unlimited,  but  only  fifteen  stripes  might  be  given  for  one 
offence. 

This  did  not  diminish  the  evil,  for  we  find  that  five  years 
later  another  law  was  passed.  This  stated  that  "idle 
persons,  vagabonds  and  sturdy  beggars  have  been  of  late, 
and  still  are,  much  increasing  within  this  government,  and 
likely  more  to  increase  if  timely  remedy  be  not  provided." 
They  were  to  be  adjudged  rogues  by  any  assistant  or  justice, 
and  to  "be  stripped  naked  from  the  middle  upward,  and 
.  .  .  openly  whipped  on  the  naked  body,  not  exceeding  the 
number  of  fifteen  stripes."  The  magistrate  was  also  to  give 
a  "testimonal  of  the  punishment"  with  an  order  to  forth- 
with depart  the  parish.  Thereafter  the  culprit  might  re- 
ceive a  repetition  of  the  penalt}^,  if  he  remained  in  a  town 
more  than  twenty-four  hours  after  being  warned  to  depart 
by  a  selectman.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  on  what 
ground  the  wise  law-makers  expected  that  vagrants  would 
be  likely  to  keep  and  show  that  precious  "testimonial." 
This  measure  soon  proved  ineffective,  and  in  1727,  a 
thorough-going  workhouse  act  was  passed  which  provided 
that  a  house  of  correction  be  erected  in  Hartford,  New  Haven, 
or  New  London  according  to  the  liveliness  of  these  towns  to 
secure  the  boon.  The  County  Court  was  to  appoint  "an 
honest,  fit  person  to  be  master,"  with  power  to  set  at  work, 
shackle,  whip,  and  "abridge"  the  food  in  the  interest  of 
discipline.  Four  classes  were  candidates  for  this  wholesome 
training:  tramps  (including  fakers),  petty  offenders,  stub- 
born children,  and  insane.  Upon  their  entrance,  unless 
the  warrant  otherwise  directed,  each  person  committed  was 
to  be  put  into  a  humble  state  of  mind  by  receiving  not  more 
than   ten   stripes.     It   was   expected   that   the   workhouse 


THe  Poor  Law  427 

would  be  self-supporting,  as  two- thirds  of  the  profits  was  to  go 
to  pay  their  expenses  and  to  their  famiHes,  and  the  other  third 
to  pay  the  salary  and  expenses  of  the  overseer.  It  did  not 
prove  a  financial  success,  and  in  1757,  two  overseers  were 
appointed  with  exacting  conditions,  such  as  a  forfeit  of  not 
more  than  ten  pounds  for  every  prisoner  who  escaped.  The 
revision  of  1 750,  ordered  every  county  to  provide  a  house  of 
correction,  pending  which,  county  jails  were  to  be  used  as 
workhouses.  In  1753,  the  County  Courts  were  directed  to 
erect  houses  of  correction  at  once,  though  two  counties  were 
allowed  to  erect  a  single  house;  in  October,  1753,  the 
Assembly  voted  that  no  Court  should  act  until  a  majority  of 
the  assistants  and  justices  agreed  to  it,  and  decided  on  the 
location. 

In  1769,  it  was  voted  that  each  County  Court  at  its  next 
session  should  appoint  one  or  two  overseers  from  the  county 
town  to  procure  materials  for  the  workhouse  at  a  cost  of 
fifteen  pounds.  The  law  also  empowered  any  assistant 
and  justice,  or  two  justices,  to  send  to  the  workhouse,  to  keep 
at  hard  labor  "all  rogues,  vagabonds,  sturdy  beggars  and 
other  lewd,  idle,  dissolute,  profane  and  disorderly  persons," 
that  had  no  settlement  in  the  colony.  These  laws  were 
brought  together  in  a  revision  in  1754,  with  few  changes, 
making  clear  the  fact  that  the  beggar  and  poor  inhabitant 
were  two  different  people.  To  guard  still  further  the  towns 
against  expense  from  the  settlement  of  undesirable  people,  a 
law  was  passed  in  1732,  providing  that  if  any  one,  without 
notice  to  the  authorities,  should  entertain  a  stranger  for  forty- 
eight  hours,  he  was  chargeable  with  all  subsequent  expense 
in  his  behalf.  The  revision  of  1732,  lengthened  the  time  for 
giving  notice  to  four  days,  and  limited  the  liability  of  the 
host  to  expenses  incurred  for  a  cause  dating  from  the 
stranger's  stay  with  him.  The  most  important  change  per- 
mitted the  civil  authority  and  the  selectmen,  as  well  as  the 
towns,  to  admit  inhabitants  possessing  the  necessary  moral 
qualifications.     An  act  of  1765,  declared  that  a  fine  of  ten 


428  A  History  of  Connectic\it 

shillings  a  week  for  illegally  hiring  or  entertaining  strangers, 
or  letting  a  house  or  land  to  them,  should  be  payable  to 
the  town  in  which  the  offence  was  committed,  and  not  to 
the  town  to  which  the  offender  belonged. 

In  1770,  a  decided  step  forward  was  taken,  when  a  dis- 
tinction was  made  between  inhabitants  of  Connecticut  and 
those  of  other  colonies,  and  four  methods  were  given  by  which 
a  transient  could  gain  a  settlement. 

1.  By  vote  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town. 

2.  By  consent  of  the  civil  authority  and  the  selectmen. 

3.  By  being  appointed  to  and  executing  some  public 
office. 

4.  By  possessing  in  his  own  right  in  fee  a  real  estate 
of  one  hundred  pounds  in  the  town  during  his  residence 
there. 

Until  settlement  was  acquired,  a  man  might  be  removed 
to  the  place  of  his  last  legal  settlement,  if  the  selectmen 
feared  that  he  was  likely  to  become  an  expense  to  the  town. 
Mere  residence  conferred  no  settlement.  In  moving  from  one 
town  to  another,  a  citizen  secured  before  leaving  a  written 
certificate  from  the  civil  authority  and  the  selectmen,  which 
he  lodged  with  the  clerk  of  the  new  town.  In  the  revision 
of  1784,  a  quasi-settlement  was  granted  after  a  residence  of 
three  months  in  case  of  illness,  and  any  citizen  could  arrest 
a  vagrant  wandering  without  a  pass.  It  was  also  voted 
that  a  foreigner  who  seemed  likely  to  become  immoral  or 
vicious  could  be  removed  from  the  state  to  his  last  settle- 
ment or  to  a  place  "in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  nation."  This 
law  was  repealed  in  1789.  It  also  forbade  any  person  not  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  to  buy  or  hold  lands  without  a 
special  license  from  the  Assembly,  and  this  held  until  1848. 
In  the  revision  of  1750,  there  appeared  a  marked  change  in 
the  method  of  relieving  the  poor ;  like  the  old  law,  it  required 
the  town  of  birth  or  settlement  to  care  for  one  without 
relatives  or  estate,  at  the  expense  of  the  town  of  settlement. 
A  clause  was  added:     "Or  if  they  belong  to  no  town,  or 


THe  Poor  La-w  429 

place  in  the  colony,  then  at  the  cost  and  charge  of  the 
colony,"  This  was  the  first  legislation  providing  relief  by 
the  colony.  Connecticut  occasionally  paid  the  cost  of 
transportation  of  paupers  to  their  homes  in  England.  The 
revision  of  1750,  also  extended  the  power  granted  to  select- 
men in  1673,  to  bind  out  children  of  paupers  and  "any 
poor  children  that  live  idly,  or  are  exposed  to  want  and  dis- 
tress,"  if  there  was  no  one  to  care  for  them.  This  revision 
also  allowed  indeterminate  sentence  of  vicious  minors  to 
the  house  of  correction  "under  hard  labor  and  severe 
punishment." 

The  revision  of  1821,  made  necessary  by  the  constitu- 
tion of  18 18,  marks  greater  liberality;  a  six  years'  self-sup- 
porting residence  in  a  town  entitled  a  foreigner  who  had 
gained  legal  residence  to  support  in  case  there  was  need,  and 
a  year's  residence,  coupled  with  ownership  of  real  estate  to 
the  value  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-four  dollars,  entitled 
to  support.  An  inhabitant  of  Connecticut  could  gain  resi- 
dence in  another  town  by  vote  of  the  town,  consent  of 
officials,  or  by  holding  office,  as  in  the  case  of  foreigners,  and 
also  by  ownership  of  real  estate  worth  three  hundred  and 
thirty-four  dollars  or  by  six  years'  residence,  during  which 
he  supported  himself  and  paid  taxes.  A  town  was  responsible 
for  relief  of  a  stranger  after  a  residence  of  three  months,  or 
before  that  time  if  warning  had  not  been  given,  provided 
that  he  had  been  a  self-supporting  resident  of  another 
Connecticut  town  for  six  years.  The  importation  of  con- 
victs, and  the  leaving  of  paupers  in  towns  where  they  did 
not  belong,  were  punishable  by  fine. 

In  1785,  the  Assembly  authorized  Hartford  to  build 
"an  almshouse  for  the  support  of  the  poor  of  the  town," 
and  levy  taxes  to  erect,  enlarge,  and  repair  as  may  be  needed. 
The  selectmen  were  to  appoint  overseers  for  the  same.  In 
1 8 13,  separate  towns  or  any  two  towns  were  empowered  to 
establish  almshouses  "for  the  admission  of  the  town  poor 
and  destitute  persons."     Every  town  was  still  obliged  to 


430  -A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

support  its  needy  inhabitants,  "whether  residing  in  it,  or  in 
any  other  town  in  the  state,"  provided  they  were  without 
estate  or  relatives  able  to  relieve.  The  revision  of  1821, 
made  a  town  responsible  for  a  former  inhabitant  who  had 
lost  his  residence  by  living  in  another  state,  and  on  return- 
ing to  Connecticut  was  in  want. 

After  1 82 1,  paupers  might  be  removed  to  any  place 
designated  by  the  town  or  selectmen.  There  were  three 
legal  methods  of  relief:  in  one's  own  home,  the  almshouse 
or  other  place  designated  by  the  town,  or  by  the  contractor 
for  the  town  poor.  There  is  no  record  of  an  authorization 
of  the  contract  system.  It  is  simply  referred  to  as  existing. 
The  selectmen  were  overseers  of  the  poor.  Before  18 18, 
they  were  not  required  to  care-^or  needy  residents  who 
belonged  elsewhere,  unless  they  were  ill.  After  1818,  if  a 
person  came  to  want  away  from  the  town  where  he  resided, 
he  with  whom  he  resided  was  required  to  notify  a  selectman 
within  five  days,  and  "immediate  and  necessary  support" 
was  furnished,  and  information  was  given  as  soon  as  possible 
to  the  town  where  the  person  belonged.  A  fine  of  seven 
dollars  was  imposed  on  a  neglectful  selectman.  No  town 
was  ever  to  pay  for  paupers  at  a  greater  rate  than  a  dollar  a 
week  in  lieu  of  all  expenses.  An  act  was  passed  in  1828, 
requiring  selectmen,  in  case  a  pauper  belonging  to  another 
town  died,  to  give  him  a  "decent  burial,"  and  recover  from 
the  town  of  settlement,  the  expense  not  exceeding  six  dollars. 
Selectmen  were  also  to  relieve  all  residents  of  six  years'  stand- 
ing if  in  need.  The  state  continued  to  support  all  paupers 
without  settlement,  but  in  1820,  it  was  voted  that  in  no 
case  should  the  state  reimburse  a  town  for  the  support  of  a 
pauper  born  in  Connecticut,  or  in  an  adjoining  state,  or  one 
who  had  been  an  inhabitant  of  a  Connecticut  town.  The 
comptroller  was  empowered  to  contract  with  any  person  or 
persons  for  not  more  than  five  years,  for  the  support  of  state 
paupers.  Thus  began  the  system  of  caring  for  the  poor  of 
the  state  by  contract  with  the  lowest  bidder.     After  1821, 


TKe  Poor  La-w  431 

selectmen  constituted  a  board  of  health  to  prevent  the 
spread  of  contagion.  In  1826,  a  charter  was  granted  to  the 
General  Hospital  Society  of  Connecticut  to  maintain  "a. 
general  hospital  in  the  city  of  New  Haven."  It  was  to  be  a 
charitable  institution,  and  patients  belonging  to  the  state 
were  to  be  preferred.  No  appropriation  was  at  that  time 
made  for  it. 

As  early  as  1785,  authority  was  granted  New  Haven  to 
establish  a  workhouse.  In  1795,  similar  authority  was 
granted  Norwich,  and  before  1713,  to  seven  other  towns. 
The  revision  of  1821,  authorized  towns  to  erect  workhouses, 
and  made  selectmen  overseers.  The  master  was  not  al- 
lowed to  whip  the  inmates,  but  might  put  them  in  close  con- 
finement, or  "in  case  of  great  obstinacy  and  perverseness 
reduce  them  to  bread  and  water."  The  town  made  up  the 
deficit  in  the  expense  of  supporting  the  workhouse.  Beggars, 
vagrants,  fakers,  prostitutes,  drunkards,  and  those  who  failed 
to  support  their  families  were  committed,  and  the  sentences 
were  limited  to  forty  days.  Stubborn  and  rebellious  minors 
were  also  sentenced  to  the  workhouse  for  not  more  than 
thirty  days.  The  insane  had  been  excluded  in  1793.  It 
was  hard  to  obtain  workhouse  sentences  for  tramps,  as  the 
counties  would  not  assume  support,  and  only  the  larger 
towns  were  willing  to  act.  The  easiest  course  was  to  give 
a  little  assistance  and  pass  the  beggars  on.  A  distinction 
was  made  in  the  revision  of  1821,  between  paupers,  who  were 
to  be  cared  for  in  almshouses,  and  beggars,  more  or  less 
vicious,  who  were  sent  to  the  workhouse,  while  the  mentally 
weak  were  to  be  placed  under  conservators,  and  spend- 
thrifts under  overseers. 

In  1784,  the  system  was  a  combination  of  state  and  town; 
in  1838,  it  was  almost  entirely  a  town  system;  the  only  aid 
given  by  the  state  was  to  strangers  who  were  ill  within  the 
first  three  months  of  their  residence  in  a  town,  and  from  that 
time  until  now  there  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  state  aid, 
while  the  basis  is  still  the  town  system.     The  date  for  the 


432  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

beginning  of  the  institutional  period  is  1838,  though  it 
began  in  a  small  way  before.  Many  public  and  private 
institutions  were  chartered  and  two  hundred  general  acts 
passed  between  1838,  and  1875,  to  regulate  these  and  other 
conditions  arising  from  the  increasing  population.  In  1854, 
it  was  voted  to  grant  two  thousand  dollars  annually  to  the 
General  Hospital  Society  of  New  Haven  for  its  charity  work. 
The  same  year  the  Hartford  Hospital  was  incorporated,  with 
an  appropriation  from  the  state  of  ten  thousand  dollars, 
and  much  more  later  on,  as  was  also  the  case  with  the  New 
Haven  Hospital.  In  1866,  a  new  homeopathic  hospital 
received  aid  from  the  state.  In  1871,  the  Hartford  dispen- 
sary was  incorporated.     New  Haven  followed  in  1872. 

From  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  dangerous 
lunatics  were  confined,  but  when  it  was  learned  in  1837, 
that  there  were  four  hundred  and  fifty  pauper  insane, 
measures  were  taken  to  provide  for  them  at  the  Retreat  at 
Hartford,  but  the  number  and  expense  increased  so  rapidly 
that  in  1866,  it  was  voted  to  establish  a  hospital  for  the 
insane.  This  was  located  at  Middletown,  and  in  the  first 
year,  of  the  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  patients,  only 
twenty-four  were  paying  patients;  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  were  paupers. 

Many  laws  have  been  passed  since  1875,  relating  to 
pauperism,  but  the  changes  have  not  been  very  marked;  a 
person  from  another  state  or  territory  gains  settlement  by 
vote  of  the  town  or  by  consent  of  justices  of  the  peace  and 
selectmen  after  a  year's  residence,  or  by  the  possession  of 
real  estate  to  the  value  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-four 
dollars.  An  inhabitant  of  another  Connecticut  town  gains 
a  settlement  by  vote,  or  consent,  or  a  four  years'  self-support- 
ing residence.  There  were  few  restrictions  in  methods  of 
poor  relief  in  the  revision  of  1875;  towns  might  support 
their  poor  in  their  own  homes,  in  almshouses,  or  through 
contractors  who  cared  for  all  the  poor,  for  a  lump  sum  or 
so  much  per  capita.     The  statute  of  1879,  put  restriction  on 


The  Poor  Law  433 

the  contract  system,  requiring  the  selectmen  to  see  that 
"good  and  sufficient  food,  clothing,  comfortable  lodgings, 
suitable  care  and  medical  attendance  in  sickness"  be  fur- 
nished. This  law  was  repealed  in  1883,  and  no  restrictions 
were  placed  upon  selectmen.  In  1883,  the  State  Board  of 
Charities  reported  that  three-quarters  of  the  towns  farmed 
out  their  poor  to  the  lowest  bidder.  By  1886,  the  cruelties 
and  sufferings  possible  under  such  a  system  led  to  an  en- 
actment which  forbade  all  such  contracts  after  January  I, 
1887.  After  that  time,  towns  were  to  support  all  paupers 
"in  an  almshouse  or  other  place  or  places  provided."  Since 
1 90 1,  neighboring  towns  may  establish  a  union  almshouse. 
In  1886,  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  towns  in  the 
state,  sixty-two  owned  almshouses,  thirty-four  used  alms- 
houses by  contract  with  private  owners,  and  twenty-four 
of  the  latter  paid  the  keeper  a  lump  sum  for  the  care  of 
all  paupers,  except  in  some  cases  of  tramps  and  insane.  At 
least  seven  towns,  owning  almshouses,  contracted  with  the 
keeper  for  a  gross  or  weekly  sum  per  head.  Six  towns  for  a 
time  had  a  contract  with  the  contractor  at  Tariff ville,  who 
has  charge  of  the  state  paupers,  under  which  town  paupers 
were  kept  there.  Contracts  were  supposed  to  go  to  the 
lowest  bidder,  who  got  all  the  work  he  could  out  of  the  in- 
mates, and  we  can  imagine  the  cruelty  and  privation  endured 
when  the  contractor  was  mean.  The  report  of  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  for  1886,  which  brought  out  the  facts, 
led  to  a  prohibition  of  such  contracts  by  the  Assembly. 

The  number  of  almshouses  in  active  operation  in  the 
state  in  1910;  was  seventy-two,  of  which  sixty-two  were 
owned  by  the  towns  or  cities  in  which  they  were  situated, 
and  ten  were  owned  and  managed  by  individuals.  In  the 
remainder  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  towns,  needy 
persons  were  boarded  in  families  or  assisted  in  their  own 
homes,  except  in  the  cases  of  six  towns  that  boarded  their 
poor  at  Tariff  ville,  in  violation  of  the  law  which  provides 

that  town  poor  shall  be  cared  for  in  the  town  to  which  they 
28 


434  -Ak  History  of  Connecticut 

belong  or  in  an  adjoining  town.  The  almshouse  at  Tariff- 
ville  is  often  miscalled  the  State  Almshouse,  but  the  state 
has  no  share  in  its  ownership  and  management.  Under  the 
state  poor  law  of  1907,  state  paupers  are  boarded  there, 
and  the  expense  to  the  state  is  two  dollars  and  seventy-five 
cents  per  week.  Better  accommodations  befit  the  poor  of 
such  a  state  as  Connecticut. 

Some  towns  still  receive  prisoners  under  the  workhouse 
law.  A  change  for  the  better  has  come  to  pass  in  most 
almshouses  during  the  past  thirty  years,  but  in  a  number 
there  is  a  lack  of  classification  and  adequate  facilities  for 
decent  comfort.  Paupers  in  towns  without  almshouses  are 
usually  boarded  in  families,  frequently  in  the  outskirts,  and 
with  clothing  and  rooms  sometimes  poor  beyond  all  de- 
scription. The  present  system  with  its  inheritance  of  many 
of  the  evils  of  a  primitive  age  will  some  day  give  way  to  a 
district  or  county  system,  where  classification,  economy, 
separation  of  the  worthy  poor  from  idiots,  imbeciles,  and 
insane  shall  be  maintained,  under  superintendents  of  skill 
and  experience. 

The  so-called  outdoor  relief  is  a  blot  upon  the  state.  It 
is  difficult  to  get  reports,  but  in  1888,  it  was  reasonably 
certain  that  twenty  thousand  received  such  aid  every  year, 
one  to  thirty-five  of  the  population,  and  there  has  been  no 
radical  change  since  then.  Children  are  often  brought  up 
in  the  practice  of  going  to  the  selectman  for  the  weekly  or 
monthly  stipend  for  the  family,  and  by  the  time  they  reach 
maturity  have  come  to  look  upon  the  town  treasury  as  the 
one  natural  and  unfailing  source  of  revenue.  In  1884, 
Windham  began  to  send  all  new  and  many  old  applicants 
to  the  almshouse,  and  nearly  all  found  that  they  could 
support  themselves.  The  cost  of  the  almshouse  support 
increased  six  hundred  and  seventy  dollars,  while  the  out- 
door relief  decreased  over  five  thousand  dollars. 

The  tramp  question,  which  was  a  live  wire  at  the  opening 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  has  not  yet  been  solved  in  Con- 


THe  Poor  La-w  435 

necticut.  All  sorts  of  expedients  have  been  tried.  At 
least  forty  thousand  tramps  and  vagrants  troop  through  the 
towns  every  year,  and  feed  on  the  people.  It  is  a  mild 
statement  to  say  that  over  half  of  them  are  imder  twenty- 
five,  professional  tramps,  determined  to  live  without  work. 
Tests  to  learn  what  proportion  are  worthy  to  receive  help 
lead  to  the  conclusion  that  about  one  in  twenty-five  is 
worthy.  As  a  result  of  careful  investigation  the  General 
Assembly  in  1875,  passed  two  bills,  one  for  county  work- 
houses, and  one  regarding  vagrants.  Any  one  to  whom  a 
tramp  applies  may  detain  him  until  eleven  on  the  following 
day  to  labor  for  aid  received.  Neglect  to  work,  or  injury 
to  person  or  property,  may  lead  to  sentence  in  town  or 
county  workhouse,  or  to  jail  as  a  vagrant,  for  from  thirty 
days  to  six  months.  This  statute  was  repealed  in  1886. 
The  law  now  on  the  statute  book  was  passed  in  1879,  ^^^  it 
states  that  "all  transient  persons  who  rove  about  from 
place  to  place  begging,  and  all  vagrants  living  without  labor  or 
visible  means  of  support,  who  stroll  over  the  country  without 
lawful  occasion,"  are  tramps,  and  liable  to  confinement  in 
prison  for  not  more  than  a  year.  Officers  may  arrest  with- 
out warrant. 

The  statutes  authorize  three  kinds  of  workhouses. 
Towns  singly,  or  in  cooperation,  may  establish  workhouses, 
counties  may  build  them,  and  all  county  jails  are  work- 
houses. Selectmen  are  overseers  of  workhouses.  The 
workhouse  proposition  has  not  appealed  to  Connecticut. 
The  jail  is  the  workhouse,  the  only  one  the  towns  and  coun- 
ties are  willing  to  support.  The  elaborate  and  severe  work- 
house law  has  failed  to  reach  the  tramp  evil  because  there 
are  no  workhouses,  and  with  some  of  the  jails  crowded  as 
they  are,  vagrants  cannot  be  sent  there,  and  the  only  place 
for  them  is  the  almshouse.  There  is  no  legal  ground  for 
this,  and  it  is  unfair  to  the  worthy  and  imfortimate  poor 
who  are  there.  The  Hartford  committee  on  outdoor  alms 
of  1890,  found  that  prostitutes  and  other  petty  criminals 


436  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

were  sentenced  by  the  police  court  to  the  almshouse  under 
the  workhouse  law.  The  present  methods  increase  the 
pauper  class  through  illegitimate  children,  furnish  a  free 
hospital  for  regaining  health  after  a  debauch,  subject  the 
decent  poor  to  the  hardship  of  association  with  criminals  and 
defectives ,  and  feed  and  send  tramps  along  to  the  next  town. 

The  organization  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  in  1873, 
was  an  important  event  in  the  care  of  the  dependent  and 
delinquent  classes,  since  it  has  a  general  supervision  over 
the  administration  of  the  laws.  A  glance  at  the  past  re- 
minds us  of  progress  in  the  development  of  the  poor  laws. 
The  act  of  1682,  provided  for  the  return  by  local  authorities 
of  vagrants  found  within  their  towns.  In  17 13,  the  county 
jails  were  constituted  houses  of  correction  to  which  tramps 
might  be  sentenced.  In  1727,  the  erection  of  a  colony  work- 
house was  ordered.  In  1750,  the  counties  were  ordered  to 
provide  workhouses.  In  18 13,  this  power  was  granted  to 
the  towns,  and  in  1821,  withdrawn  from  the  counties.  In 
1 841,  it  was  enacted  that  jails  might  be  fitted  for  use  as  work- 
houses, while  in  1878,  every  jail  was  required  to  become  a 
workhouse.  In  1879,  it  was  enacted  that  vagrants  from 
outside  of  the  state  might  be  sent  to  prison.  Far  more 
success  has  attended  the  efforts  to  care  for  the  sick,  the 
insane,  and  the  feeble-minded ;  children  have  a  better  chance ; 
the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  the  incurables  are  no  longer 
neglected.  Wounded  and  disabled  soldiers,  and  the  children 
of  soldiers,  have  been  cared  for. 

An  orphan  asylum  was  incorporated  in  18 13,  in  Hartford, 
and  in  1833-34,  societies  were  formed  in  New  Haven,  Fair- 
field, and  Middletown  for  the  care  of  boys  and  girls,  and 
education  in  the  common  branches  and  training  for  an 
honest  calling  were  to  be  given.  The  introduction  of 
factories  in  18 13,  and  the  employment  of  children  in  them 
made  special  legislation  necessarj'',  and  proprietors  were 
given  duties  similar  to  those  of  parents  in  the  training  of 
children  under  their  charge. 


TKe  Poor  La-w  437 

The  town  system  has  had  free  play  in  Connecticut,  and 
in  the  earHer  years  it  worked  fairly  well,  but  with  the  coming 
in  of  manufactories  there  has  been  need  of  state  activity, 
together  with  that  of  the  county.  Since  1837,  the  trend 
has  been  in  the  direction  of  action  by  the  state  in  order  that 
there  may  be  specialized  treatment  of  the  different  classes. 
Action  by  the  town  has  been  equally  a  failure  in  its  treat- 
ment of  the  vagrant,  of  cases  needing  special  attention,  and 
in  outdoor  relief.  There  has  been  too  much  confusion  of  the 
pauper  and  the  vagrant.  Nothing  has  been  done  to  reform 
the  tramp,  except  to  pass  laws  which  were  sometimes  too 
mild,  and  at  other  times  too  severe  to  execute.  Some  of  the 
state  institutions,  like  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  have 
been  conducted  with  wisdom  and  success.  Some  private 
institutions,  like  the  School  for  Imbeciles  at  Lakeville  and 
the  Industrial  School  for  Girls  at  Middletown,  have  also  been 
well  managed,  but  of  others,  both  public  and  private,  less 
can  be  said.  On  the  whole,  there  has  been  an  earnest  effort 
to  grapple  with  a  wide  variety  of  difficult  and  perplexing 
conditions,  and  all  the  indications  point  toward  greater 
activity  on  the  part  of  the  state  in  shaping  laws  and  institu- 
tions to  meet  the  special  cases  arising  from  a  heterogeneous 
and  complicated  civic  life. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

PENAL  AND  REFORMATORY  INSTITUTIONS 

IN  the  development  of  the  state  from  simple  colonial 
conditions,  there  has  been  of  course  the  question 
of  the  delinquent  and  the  criminal  to  cope  with  at  every 
stage  and  all  the  time;  also  the  growing  call  for 
reform,  as  well  as  for  the  protection  of  society.  In  the 
later  years,  there  has  been  an  effort  to  place  Connecticut 
in  the  class  of  the  best  thought  of  the  age.  Almost 
from  the  first,  it  was  necessary  to  provide  security  against 
evil-doers,  since  the  public  records  of  1640,  say:  "For- 
asmuch, as  many  stubborn  and  refractory  Persons  are 
often  taken  within  these  libertyes,  and  no  meet  place  is  yet 
prepared  for  the  detayneing  and  keeping  of  such  to  their 
due  and  deserved  punishment.  It  is  ordered  that  there 
shall  be  a  house  of  correction  built  of  twenty-four  foote 
long,  and  sixteen  or  eighteen  broad,  with  a  Cellar,  either  of 
wood  or  stowne."  In  1649,  it  was  voted  to  pay  Will  Rescew 
ten  pounds  a  "yeare  during  the  time  he  keepeth  the  charge  of 
the  howse  of  correction."  In  1651,  it  was  voted  to  pay 
Richard  Goodman  and  John  Pratt  for  necessary  work  about 
the  prison  house,  which  was  under  the  charge  of  a  keeper 
appointed  by  the  assistants  and  justices  until  1724,  when  it 
was  entrusted  to  sheriffs.  The  first  jail  in  Hartford  was 
at  the  northeast  corner  of  City  Hall  Square,  not  far  from 
the  site  of  the  present  post-office.  In  1667,  it  was  ordered 
that  every  county  should  have  a  jail,  and  in  1701,  it  was 

438 


A  Rare  Sketch  of  Newgate  Prison 

Only  three  copies  of  this  interesting  Old  Engraving  are  known  to  exist.      This  view  of  Old  Newgate 
Prison  was  taken  from  a  copy  owned  by  George  S.  Goddard,  librarian  of  the  Connecticut 

State  Library 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institxitions         439 

voted  that  four  "sufficient  prison-houses"  should  be  con- 
stantly maintained  in  "this  Colonie  [one  in  each  head  town 
of  the  four  counties]  at  cost  and  charge  of  each  countie." 
The  jail  at  Windham  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  sample  of  the 
jails  of  that  period.  It  was  ordered  in  1726,  by  the  justices 
of  Windham,  that  a  "gaol  be  built  with  all  possible  expe- 
dition 31  feet  long,  18  feet  in  breadth.  The  gaol  to  be 
10  feet  high,  built  of  logs,  all  framed  into  posts,  to  be 
divided  into  two  rooms  by  a  board  partition.  The  other 
end  to  be  for  the  prison  house,  65  feet  between  joints." 

The  first  common  prison  was  in  the  copper  mine  at  New- 
gate in  Granby,  fourteen  miles  north  of  Hartford,  on  the 
western  slope  of  Talcott  mountain.  It  was  a  cavern  seventy 
feet  below  the  surface.  In  October,  1773,  a  committee 
which  had  been  appointed  b}^  the  legislature  reported  that 
they  had  "prepared  a  well-finished  lodging  room"  of  about 
fifteen  by  twelve  feet,  and  placed  over  the  west  shaft  an 
iron  door,  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  and  seventy  pounds, 
and  an  act  was  passed,  "constituting  the  subterraneous 
caverns  and  buildings  in  the  copper  mines  in  Simsbury  [it 
was  then  in  Simsbury]  a  public  gaol  and  workhouse  for  the 
use  of  the  colony."  Only  three  classes  of  prisoners  were  to 
be  sent  there:  burglars,  horse-stealers,  and  counterfeiters. 
The  early  fortunes  of  Newgate  were  discouraging  for  the 
public,  as  there  were  several  escapes  and  three  fires  in 
the  first  nine  years,  for  some  buildings  were  erected  about  the 
shaft  in  which  the  prisoners  made  nails,  and  after  1820,  shoes; 
cooperage  was  also  a  trade  that  was  practiced  there.  In  1 780, 
a  military  guard  was  stationed  there,  and  in  1781,  twenty- 
eight  rose  against  the  officers  and  escaped.  It  fell  into 
ruin  until  1790,  when  a  "piquet  fence"  was  built,  and  a 
new  and  stiffer  discipline  adopted,  fetters  being  placed  on 
the  ankles,  and  in  the  shops  a  chain  attached  to  a  band 
around  the  neck  was  fastened  to  the  beam  above  while 
prisoners  worked.  A  room  was  made  in  the  basement  of 
the  guard-house  called  the  "jug,"  in  which  the  better  dis- 


440  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

posed  were  kept,  and  others  were  imprisoned  in  the  cavern 
at  night,  with  straw  for  beds,  and  there  under  their  blankets 
huddled  novice  and  hardened  criminal:  caves  reeking  with 
filth ;  water  trickling  from  the  roof  and  oozing  from  the  sides 
of  the  cavern. 

In  1800,  a  two-story  building  was  erected  at  the  mouth 
of  the  mine,  and  the  dimensions  of  the  two  rooms  were 
twelve  by  twent^T'-one  feet,  with  seven  feet  between  joints, 
and  for  ventilation  a  window  fourteen  by  twenty-one  inches, 
also  a  small  opening  over  the  door.  No  comment  is  needed 
when  one  imagines  what  it  must  have  been  for  fifty-two 
men  to  sleep  in  those  close,  stifling  rooms.  It  is  not  strange 
that  they  begged  for  the  privilege  of  going  back  to  the  mine 
seventy  feet  below.  During  the  hot  weather  in  July,  1825, 
thirty- two  men  were  lodged  in  a  basement,  while  the  rest 
of  the  one  hundred  and  nine  were  in  other  rooms,  described 
in  the  report  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society  of  1826,  as 
follows:  "These  rooms  were  not  only  narrow  and  crowded, 
but  filthy  in  the  extreme;  and  the  commissioners  of  the 
legislature  in  their  recent  report,  state  that  'vermin  of  various 
kinds  abound  in  them.'  "  A  visitor  to  Newgate  in  1826, 
speaks  of  the  prisoners  as  more  filthy  than  any  others  he 
had  seen  except  those  in  the  Washington  jail;  that  one  would 
suppose  that  "the  narrow  space,  the  loathsome  bedding, 
the  vermin  would  take  life."  He  gives  the  testimony  of  a 
man  who  had  visited  the  prison,  who  said  that  several 
had  changed  for  the  worse  more  in  one  year  than  one 
would  suppose  a  person  could  alter  in  ten  years.  This  was 
due  not  only  to  the  crowded  quarters  and  the  filth,  but  also 
to  the  treatment  the  men  received  from  the  officers.  He 
could  hear  the  beating  of  a  convict,  and  "the  manner,  the 
instrument,  the  effect  were  all  wrong."  A  deep-seated 
malignity  was  planted  in  the  minds  of  the  prisoners,  some  of 
whom  were  constantly  in  irons.  In  1821,  women  were 
sent  to  Newgate,  and  the  number  of  prisoners  increased 
until  1827,  when  the  number  was  one  hundred  and  twenty- 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institvitions         441 

seven.  And  it  was  expensive,  for  the  total  cost  to  the  state 
of  supporting  the  prison  from  1790,  to  1826,  was  over  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  number  of  prisoners 
was  seldom  over  a  hundred.  From  1817,  to  1819,  the 
average  expense  was  over  twelve  thousand  dollars  annually. 
If  anything  could  be  said  in  favor  of  the  discipline  of  the 
prison,  the  heavy  expense  would  not  seem  so  serious,  but 
it  was  impossible  for  the  officers  to  prevent  the  prisoners 
from  practicing  vice.  The  report  of  the  Prison  Discipline 
Society  for  1827,  after  speaking  of  the  facilities  for  conceal- 
ment of  evil  practices,  adds: 

In  the  dungeons  seventy  feet  under  ground,  formerly  used 
as  night  rooms,  some  of  the  prisoners  volunteered  to  return  to 
them,  as  places  of  confinement  at  night,  and  assigned  as  the 
reason  that  they  could  there  curse,  swear  and  fight,  and  do  other 
unutterable  abominations,  without  having  it  known  to  any  one. 
There  probably  has  not  been  on  earth  a  stronger  emblem  of  the 
pit  than  the  sleeping  rooms  of  that  prison,  so  filthy,  so  crowded, 
so  inclined  to  evil,  so  unrestrained. 

In  September,  1827,  the  prisoners  were  transferred  to 
Wethersfield,  to  the  new  prison,  built  "after  the  Auburn 
plan,"  having  two  hundred  brick  cells,  three  and  a  half  by 
seven  by  seven  feet,  with  a  solid  plank  door,  in  which  there  was 
a  grated  opening  of  eight  by  ten  inches,  also  an  opening  four 
inches  square  into  a  ventilating  flue  in  the  rear  of  every  cell. 
In  1888,  that  block  was  replaced  by  another  of  three  hundred 
and  ninety-six  brick  cells,  five  by  eight  by  seven  feet  nine 
inches,  with  grated  doors,  two  feet  eight  inches  wide.  In 
1896-98,  a  block  of  steel  cells  was  built,  and  in  1889,  the  pres- 
ent graded  system  was  introduced,  which  works  as  follows: 
On  arrival,  a  prisoner  enters  the  second  grade  and  is  clothed  in 
a  gray  suit ;  nine  credit  marks  may  be  earned  each  month  in 
conduct,  work,  and  mental  advancement.  Promotion  to  the 
first  grade  and  the  blue  suit  is  conditioned  upon  his  earning 
fifty  out  of  a  possible  fifty-four  marks  within  the  next  six 


442  i\  History  of  Connecticut 

months.  The  loss  of  more  than  two  marks  in  any  month 
for  violation  of  the  rules,  disorderly  conduct,  laziness  or 
untidiness,  reduces  the  prisoner  to  the  third  grade  and  the 
striped  clothing,  and  similar  misconduct  in  a  first-grade 
man  reduces  him  to  second  grade.  First-grade  prisoners 
are  allowed  to  write  one  letter  a  week,  receive  visits  from 
friends  once  in  two  weeks,  also  such  letters  and  papers  as 
the  warden  approves,  with  other  privileges  for  good  conduct. 
The  second-grade  men  may  receive  visits  from  friends  once 
a  month,  also  such  letters  and  papers  as  the  warden  shall 
approve.  The  third-grade  men  shall  not  purchase,  or 
receive  from  friends,  any  article;  nor  shall  they  receive 
visits,  papers  or  tobacco  (except  as  provided  by  law),  or 
letters,  except  on  matters  of  the  greatest  importance,  and 
then  by  permission  of  the  warden,  and  they  may  draw  one 
library  book  a  week.  Prisoners  reduced  to  the  third  grade, 
by  maintaining  a  perfect  record  for  thirty  days,  are  promoted 
to  the  middle  grade.  The  loss  of  a  mark  will  compel  them 
to  remain  in  the  grade  thirty  days  longer.  Good  time,  to 
shorten  sentences,  is  granted  at  the  rate  of  sixty  days  per 
year  for  five  years  and  after  that  ninety  days  per  year. 
There  are  over  six  hundred  prisoners,  two  and  a  half  per 
cent,  of  whom  are  women.  The  contract  system  prevails  for 
manufacture  of  shirts  and  shoes,  and  the  earnings  of  the 
men  for  the  year  ending  September  30,  1912,  were  seventy- 
eight  thousand  and  seventy-five  dollars,  or  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars  apiece  for  the  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  prisoners.  A  school  for  the  illiterate  and  a  prayer 
meeting  are  maintained  from  October  until  May.  Bible 
schools  and  preaching  services  for  Catholics  and  Protestants 
are  held  every  Sunday.  A  library  furnishes  valuable 
reading  for  the  prisoners,  to  which  the  state  appropriates 
annually  five  hundred  dollars.  A  board  of  pardons,  con- 
sisting of  the  governor,  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Errors,  and  four  other  persons,  one  of  whom  shall  be  a 
physician  (the  four  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor),  holds 


Convict  Dining-Room  at  Meal  Hour  at  Connecticut  State  Prison,  Wethersfield 


The  Main  Cavern.     Newgate  Cavern  in  which  convicts  were  kept  at  night 

From  The  Connecticut  Quarterly  vol.  i.,  No.  3 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institutions         443 

sessions  in  June  and  December,  to  grant  commutations  or 
releases.  All  members  of  said  board  must  concur  to  make 
the  judgment  operative.  The  parole  of  prisoners  under 
indeterminate  sentence  is  at  the  discretion  of  a  majority  of 
the  board  of  directors  and  the  warden. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the  changes  in  the  laws 
relating  to  crime  from  the  beginning;  we  can  only  glance  at 
a  few  taken  almost  at  random.  A  favorite  form  of  punish- 
ment was  the  stocks,  the  policy  being  to  make  the  disgrace 
of  the  criminals  as  conspicuous  as  possible.  By  1706,  there 
was  a  statute  which  compelled  every  town  to  make  and 
maintain  a  good  pair  of  stocks,  with  lock  and  key,  and 
selectmen  were  to  provide  this  at  their  own  expense,  under 
penalty  of  ten  shillings  a  week.  Perjury  called  for  a  fine 
of  sixty-seven  dollars,  and  if  the  convicted  man  was  unable 
to  pay,  he  was  to  sit  in  the  pillory  one  hour,  and  have  both 
his  ears  nailed.  An  hour  in  the  pillory  was  an  approved 
method  of  training  Indians  to  observe  the  Sabbath.  In 
January,  1785,  Moses  Fiske  was  convicted  of  horse-stealing 
and  was  sentenced  to  sit  on  the  wooden  horse  for  half  an 
hour,  to  receive  fifteen  stripes,  pay  a  fine  of  ten  pounds,  be 
confined  in  jail  or  workhouse  three  months,  and  every 
Monday  morning  for  the  first  month  have  ten  stripes  and 
ride  the  wooden  horse.  The  wooden  horse  was  in  State 
House  Square,  and  was  a  piece  of  timber,  not  too  smooth, 
sustained  by  four  legs. 

An  interesting  glimpse  into  the  court  rooms  was  gained 
in  our  study  of  the  witchcraft  cases.  The  record  of  the 
County  Court  of  New  London  in  1667  states  that  "Goodwife 
Willey  for  not  attending  public  worship  or  bringing  her 
children  thither  was  fined  five  shillings."  In  1670,  John 
Lewis  and  Sarah  Chapman  were  presented  to  the  court  by 
the  grand  jury  for  sitting  together  on  the  Lord's  day  under 
an  apple-tree.  After  1680,  numerous  cases  appeared  con- 
cerning "horse-coursers."  It  was  tlie  custom  to  pasture 
the  horses  at  large,  and  it  was  easy  to  run  them  to  wharf, 


444  -Al  History  of  Connecticut 

and  ship  them  to  Barbados.  A  law  was  passed  in  1683, 
punishing  horse-coursers  with  fines  and  lashes.  Every 
town  had  its  whipping-post  and  stocks,  and  as  late  as  1770, 
a  culprit  was  sentenced  to  have  his  ear  clipped.  Breach 
of  the  Sabbath  was  considered  more  serious  than  "profane 
cursing  and  swairing, "  or  even  than  the  "sin  of  drunken- 
ness," and  the  fine  for  Sabbath -breaking  was  ten  shillings, 
and  the  penalty  for  young  folks  "playing  at  meeting"  was 
three  shillings.  In  1721,  it  was  ordered  that  a  fine  of  forty 
shillings,  and  a  term  at  the  house  of  correction  at  the  charges 
of  the  culprit  in  case  the  fine  was  not  paid,  should  be  imposed 
on  those  who  should  be  guilty  of  any  rude  and  unlawful 
behavior  on  the  Lord's  day,  such  as  "clamorous  discourse, 
or  by  shouting,  hollowing,  screaming,  running,  riding, 
singing,  dancing,  jumping,  winding  horns  and  the  like  in 
any  houses  or  place  so  near  to  any  publick  meetinghouse 
for  divine  worship,  that  those  who  went  there  may  be 
disturbed."  A  law  was  passed  in  1735,  which  was  not  long 
in  force,  that  persons  who  were  fined,  and  should  refuse  to 
pay,  should  be  sold  for  so  long  a  time  as  the  court  saw  fit. 

The  laws  of  1642,  made  the  following  offenses  punish- 
able by  death:  idolatry,  witchcraft,  blasphemy,  murder, 
bestiality,  adultery,  rape,  kidnapping,  and  false  witnessing./ 
These  nine  offenses  were  increased  later  to  fifteen,  including 
such  crimes  as  rebellion  against  parents,  burglary  and 
theft  for  the  third  indictment.  Drunkenness  was  punished 
with  a  fine  of  twenty  shillings,  and  the  keeper  of  the  house 
where  the  drink  was  obtained  was  to  pay  a  fine  of  ten 
shillings.  In  1735,  a  law  was  passed  which  declared  that  a 
person  who  was  convicted  of  burglary,  on  the  first  offense 
should  be  branded  with  a  "B"  on  the  forehead,  the  right 
ear  was  to  be  nailed  to  a  board  and  cut  off,  and  ten  stripes 
were  to  be  inflicted.  For  the  second  offense,  another  "B" 
was  to  be  branded,  the  other  ear  cut  off,  and  twenty-five 
stripes  given,  and  the  penalty  for  the  third  offense  was 
death.     In  1751,  a  law  was  passed  that  for  the  theft  of 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institxitions         445 

/ 
/ 

anything  under  ten  shillings,  a  justice  of  the  peace  could  im- 
pose a  penalty  of  ten  stripes,  and  a  fine  of  no  more  than  four 
pounds,  and  for  the  theft  of  more  than  ten  shillings,  the 
prisoner  was  to  be  bound  over  to  the  County  Court,  where 
the  penalty  was  not  over  thirty -nine  stripes  and  costs,  and 
no  appeal.  For  the  second  offense  the  prisoner  was  to  be 
whipped,  branded  with  a  "T"  on  the  forehead,  and  the 
right  ear  cut  off,  while  for  the  third  offense  the  penalty  wa? 
death.  The  record  shows  that  there  were  many  who  were 
tried  for  defamation,  bestialit}^  blasphemy,  idleness,  and 
lying.  The  question  so  often  asked  as  to  the  relative  preva- 
lence of  crimes  in  the  early  days  as  compared  with  the 
present  time  is  difficult  to  answer,  because  the  laws  required 
that  penalties  be  imposed  for  conduct  now  regarded  as 
innocent  and  even  beautiful.  On  November  27,  17 10,  the 
clerk  of  the  court  ordered  the  constables  to  arrest  two  young 
men  and  the  same  number  of  young  women,  and  bring  them 
before  the  County  Court  because  of  a  breaclrof  the  law  in 
the  month  of  August  preceding;  their  crime  was  the  unsea- 
sonable walking  abroad  in  the  evening  after  the  Sabbath. 
The  same  year,  a  fine  was  imposed  upon  a  woman  for  send- 
ing flowers  on  the  evening  after  the  Sabbath.  ^In  1710,  Paul 
^and  Elizabeth  Peck  testified  that  Joseph  Shepard  came  to 
their  house  on  the  evening  after  the  Sabbath  to  inform  \h.^m. 
of  the  welfare  of  their  son  and  daughter  in  Milford — a 
crime  that  must  not  go  unpunished.  /  ¥ 

Ministers  were  on  the  watch  for  evil-doers,  and  they  useff 
strong  language  to  describe  their  misdeeds;  in  1667,  Rev. 
Mr.  Stowe  of  Middletown  accused  several  men  of  "blasphemy, 
drunkenness  and  abominable  wickedness."  It  appears  that 
the  "abominable  wickedness"  was  the  sin  of  saying  that 
"no  man  can  get  to  heaven  whose  conscience  does  not  con- 
vict him  of  lying." 

Penalties  were  sometimes  mitigated  in  response  to  cries 
for  mercy.  In  1723,  a  man  was  sentenced  to  branding  and 
costs,  because  he  broke  into  jail.     He  confessed  his  guilt 


44^  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

"for  so  horrid  a  crime  against  wholesome  laws,  and  high- 
handed rebellion  against  his  maker";  he  begged  for  mercy 
to  save  from  branding.  The  penalty  was  changed  to  a 
fine  of  ten  pounds.  The  gallows  was  often  used  for  other 
purposes  than  hanging.  In  1777,  two  people  were  convicted 
of  incest,  and  the  penalty  was  to  "set  on  the  gallows  with 
ropes  around  their  necks"  for  a  while,  to  receive  twenty 
stripes,  and  to  wear  upon  their  clothing  in  open  view  as 
long  as  they  lived  the  letter  "I,"  under  penalty  of  fifteen 
stripes  for  every  omission.  In  1829,  the  following  crimes 
were  punishable  with  death  in  Connecticut:  treason,  mur- 
der, perjury  with  intent  to  take  life,  arson  causing  death  or 
endangering  the  Hfe  of  any  one,  burning  a  building  other 
than  a  dwelling  house  and  causing  death,  cutting  out  the 
tongue  or  putting  out  an  eye  with  malice,  and  rape.  Kid- 
napping was  punishable  with  a  fine  of  four  hundred  dollars; 
sodomy  and  bestiality,  state  prison  for  life;  fornication,  a 
fine  of  seven  dollars  and  a  jail  sentence  of  a  month;  dis- 
interment of  bodies  of  the  dead  called  for  a  penalty  of 
imprisonment  for  life  for  the  third  offense.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  Wethersfield  prison,  there  was  a  rising 
sentiment  against  the  placing  of  women  in  the  same  prison 
with  men  unless  they  were  in  a  separate  apartment.  A 
letter  of  the  chaplain,  dated  Wethersfield,  May  7,  1831, 
says : 

I  suppose  the  female  department  here  is  the  best  arranged 
of  any  in  the  world.  Formerly,  when  they  were  all  in  one  room, 
the  noise  which  they  made  might  be  heard  at  a  distance,  and 
hair  torn  from  each  other's  heads  might  be  seen  strewed  about 
the  floor.  Now  they  are  lodged  in  separate  cells;  they  more 
than  support  themselves  by  their  labor,  and  are  much  changed 
for  the  better  in  outward  appearance. 

Imprisonment  for  debt  was  largely  practiced,  and  until 
1826,  women  were  liable  as  well  as  men.  In  1830,  a  Hart- 
ford man  was  imprisoned  from  January  to  September  for 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institvitions         447 

a  debt  of  two  dollars  and  thirty-one  cents,  and  he  was  then 
discharged  on  taking  the  poor  debtor's  oath.  A  Simsbury 
man  was  committed  for  a  debt  of  seventy-five  cents,  and  a 
month  later  he  was  discharged  on  oath.  A  Windsor  man 
was  imprisoned  thirty-five  days  for  a  debt  of  thirty-eight 
cents.  The  whole  number  imprisoned  for  debt  in  Hartford 
County  in  1830,  was  one  hundred  and  forty-two — sixty- 
six  for  sums  under  ten  dollars.  If  the  proportion  in  Hart- 
ford County  held  good  for  the  rest  of  the  state,  there  were 
three  hundred  and  sixty-four  cases  of  imprisonment  for 
debts  under  ten  dollars,  or  more  than  one-third  of  the 
number  imprisoned  for  debt.  A  pitiful  case  is  on  record 
of  a  man  who  was  locked  up  for  a  debt  of  four  dollars 
and  seventy-five  cents.  He  was  old  and  sick,  unable  to 
earn  money  for  eleven  weeks,  and  just  as  he  was  getting 
better  he  was  arrested.  His  wife,  who  went  to  the  jail  with 
a  young  daughter  to  see  him,  said  they  had  paid  a  dollar 
on  the  rent.  The  sick  man  had  no  bed  in  the  jail,  and  the 
jailer  said  he  would  let  him  go  under  the  bread  act  in  a  few 
days,  if  the  rent  was  not  paid. 

In  1 83 1,  a  chaplain  was  employed  at  the  prison,  and  he 
not  only  sought  to  benefit  the  prisoners  with  moral  and 
religious  instruction,  but  also  by  teaching  them  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  English  language,  as  most  of  the  prisoners  were 
ignorant.  In  1835,  one-half  could  not  write,  and  thirty- 
seven  out  of  two  hundred  could  not  read,  A  hymn  was 
composed  for  the  women  prisoners  to  sing  before  evening 
prayers,  in  which  was  the  following  stanza — a  comforting 
message,  and  one  likely  to  lead  to  pleasant  dreams. 

"  The  way  of  wickedness  is  hard; 
Its  bitter  fruits  we  know; 
Shame  in  this  world  is  its  reward, 
And  in  the  future,  wo.'* 

There  was  a  movement  as  early  as  1830,  in  behalf  of  the 
youthful  offenders.     The  governor  introduced  the  subject 


44^  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

in  his  message,  and  some  of  the  women  in  Hartford  and 
Fairfield  counties  sought  in  the  poorhouses  for  children 
needing  care.  In  1834,  the  chaplain  at  Wethersfield  re- 
ported that  a  boy  of  eleven  years  had  been  committed  to  the 
prison,  and  he  asked  if  the  legislature  would  not  do  well  to 
provide  a  different  place  for  such  offenders.  Public  opinion 
increased  in  momentum  until  1850,  when  a  petition  was 
presented  to  the  General  Assembly,  asking  that  the  neces- 
sary steps  be  taken  to  establish  and  maintain  a  house  of 
reformation  for  juvenile  offenders.  In  185 1,  a  favorable 
report  was  made  and  it  was  voted  to  establish  a  state  re- 
form school,  with  the  provision  that  ten  thousand  dollars 
be  paid  from  the  state  treasury  when  a  similar  amount  was 
paid  in  for  the  purpose  by  people  of  the  state.  A  prompt 
response  was  made,  and  among  the  contributors  were 
Theodore  D.  Woolsey  and  William  A.  Buckingham.  In 
1852,  a  site  of  thirty-one  acres  was  purchased  in  Meriden. 
In  February,  1854,  notice  was  given  that  on  March  i,  the 
school  would  open.  On  March  31,  1855,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  boys  had  been  committed.  Previous  to  1850,  there 
were  in  the  United  States  only  three  or  four  similar  schools; 
children  who  had  committed  offenses  against  the  law  were 
sent  to  jail  with  older  and  hardened  prisoners.  The  com- 
mitments were  for  a  definite  term,  including  an  alternate 
sentence  to  the  jail,  prison  or  workhouse.  The  popular 
idea  through  the  state  was  that  the  school  was  a  place  for 
punishment,  where  culprits  were  confined  to  protect  the 
public.  The  building  gave  that  impression  with  its  grated 
windows  and  cell-like  rooms,  in  which  the  boys  were  locked 
at  night.  In  the  period  between  1880,  and  1890,  notable 
changes  were  made,  as  five  cottages  with  accommodations 
for  fifty  boys  each  were  erected,  and  an  amendment  to  the 
law  committing  boys  to  the  school  was  passed,  doing  away 
with  the  definite  sentence,  and  substituting  the  indetermi- 
nate form  that  boys  might  be  held  at  the  school  until  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  unless  sooner  reformed. 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institutions         449 

In  1 89 1,  the  name  was  changed  to  the  Connecticut  School 
for  Boys,  but  the  name,  worn  for  forty  years,  could  not  be 
easily  shaken  off,  and  the  school  continues  to  be  called  the 
State  Reform  School. 

Since  1899,  the  governor  has  appointed  biennially  an 
agent  for  the  school,  to  investigate  the  homes  of  boys  before 
parole,  secure  homes  and  employment  for  those  whose 
homes  are  not  suitable  for  their  return  to  them,  and  by  visits 
as  often  as  once  in  six  months,  obtain  reliable  information 
as  to  the  conduct  of  boys  on  parole.  In  1900,  a  thorough 
system  of  manual  training,  combining  sloyd,  cabinetwork, 
and  wood- turning,  was  introduced.  In  1902,  forging  was 
added,  including  the  hardening,  tempering,  and  finishing  of 
steel  tools.  The  boys  are  under  sixteen  when  committed, 
and  in  1903,  the  law  was  amended  so  that  no  boy  under  ten 
years  should  be  committed,  except  under  conviction  of 
an  offense  for  which  the  punishment  is  confinement  in 
state  prison  or  a  county  jail.  The  government  and  control 
of  the  school  are  in  a  board  of  twelve  trustees,  one  from  each 
county,  and  four  from  the  vicinity  of  the  school.  The 
support  is  from  the  state;  the  cost  at  present  is  three  dollars 
per  week.  The  cottage  system  gives  a  homelike  tone  to  the 
school,  and  provides  for  greater  freedom  in  the  management 
of  the  boys.  There  is  a  system  of  grading,  which  appeals 
to  the  ambition  of  the  boys,  and  it  is  possible  for  a  boy  so 
carefully  to  observe  the  rules  that  he  can  secure  his  Honor 
Badge  in  eleven  months,  and  thus  become  entitled  to  leave 
the  school,  if  the  authorities  concur,  and  a  desirable  home  is 
secured  for  him.  There  is  a  carefully  developed  system  of 
parole  and  parole  supervision,  and  when  homes  are  found 
for  the  boys,  their  guardians  are  urged  to  cooperate  with 
the  school  authorities.  Boys  in  the  cottages  attend  school 
for  three  and  a  half  hours  daily,  and  the  larger  boys  in  the 
main  part  of  the  institution  have  a  session  of  school  three 
hours  long.  The  schools  are  graded  and  a  fair  education  is 
offered.  The  manual  training  furnishes  instruction  to  one 
29 


450  A  History  of  Connecticut 

hundred  and  sixty-eight  different  boys.  The  terms  are 
five  months  long.  Mechanical  drawing  has  a  part  in  the 
training,  and  while  the  trades  are  not  taught,  it  is  the  design 
of  the  training  to  teach  the  underlying  principles  of  many 
trades.  The  boys  make  and  mend  their  own  shoes;  print 
their  paper;  mend  the  clothes;  raise  large  quantities  of  veg- 
etables; seat  chairs  and  have  learned  to  operate  a  knitting 
machine.  The  trustees  report  that  from  1854,  ^^  i9io>  nearly 
eight  thousand  boys  have  been  committed  to  the  school, 
and  of  this  number  more  than  eighty  per  cent,  who  have  been 
graduated,  have  taken  their  places  as  respectable  and  self- 
respecting  citizens.  There  were  in  the  school,  September  30, 
1910,  four  hundred  and  thirty-four  boys,  and  the  average  time 
spent  in  the  school  by  the  boys  released  was  two  years  and 
three  months.  There  are  those  who  take  a  less  rosy  view  of 
the  school,  and  some  careful  students  of  the  subject  are  of  the 
opinion  that  a  larger  number  of  officers,  which  would  make 
possible  a  closer  supervision,  would  increase  the  efficiency  of 
the  institution.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  unquestionably 
accomplishing  a  valuable  service  for  the  state. 

Similar  to  this,  though  under  an  entirely  different 
kind  of  management,  is  the  Industrial  School  for  Girls  at 
Middletown.  This  school  is  a  private  institution  with  a 
self-perpetuating  board  of  directors,  though  the  governor, 
lieutenant-governor  and  secretary  of  state  are  directors 
ex  officio.  It  was  about  the  year  1867,  that  the  need  of  a 
home  for  the  girls  of  the  state,  who  were  in  danger  of  drifting 
into  vice  for  lack  of  proper  home  influences,  impressed  it- 
self upon  the  minds  of  some  kind-hearted  people,  who  under 
the  lead  of  Rev.  T.  K.  Fessenden  secured  a  charter,  raised 
a  large  sum  of  money,  bought  a  large  farm  in  Middletown, 
and  established  a  home.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  founders 
to  establish  a  state  institution,  but  after  considering  the 
matter,  they  saw  the  wisdom  of  having  a  private  school,  and 
receiving  from  the  state  three  and  a  half  dollars  a  week  for 
care  of  each  of  the  girls.     It  was  consequently  founded  on  that 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institutions         451 

plan  and  the  school  accommodates  two  hundred  and  eighty 
inmates.  The  statement  reads:  "The  proper  subjects  are 
not  merely  paupers,  nor  orphans,  nor  confirmed  thieves,  nor 
prostitutes,  nor  other  criminals,  but  viciously  inclined  girls 
between  the  ages  of  eight  and  sixteen  years.'"  The  class 
includes:  the  stubborn  and  unruly;  truants,  vagrants 
and  beggars;  those  found  in  circumstances  of  manifest 
danger  of  falling  into  habits  of  vice;  those  who  have  com- 
mitted any  offense  punishable  by  fine  or  imprisonment  or 
both,  other  than  imprisonment  for  life.  Its  design  is  not 
to  have  another  prison,  but  a  home  for  training  and  instruc- 
tion; to  give  children  the  physical,  mental,  moral,  social, 
and  industrial  development  needed,  and  as  soon  as  this  task 
is  accomplished,  and  they  can  be  placed  in  suitable  surround- 
ings, they  are  to  graduate  from  the  school.  The  form  of 
committal  is  by  a  civil,  and  not  a  criminal  process.  Com- 
plaint may  be  brought  by  parents  or  officers  of  a  town,  city 
or  borough,  to  a  judge  of  probate,  or  of  a  police  court,  or  to 
a  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  town  where  the  girl  is  found,  who 
can  commit  to  the  school  until  the  age  of  twenty-one,  unless 
discharged  earlier.  The  home  is  splendidly  placed  on  a  farm 
with  a  fine  prospect.  There  are  eight  family  houses,  and  a 
school  building  with  four  rooms,  where  the  girls  have  oppor- 
tim.ity  for  a  good  education.  They  make  their  clothes,  and  are 
taught  the  art  of  cutting  and  making  dresses  under  the  direc- 
tion of  an  expert  dressmaker.  They  are  also  trained  in  cook- 
ing and  housekeeping.  There  is  a  beautiful  chapel  in  which  is 
a  fine  organ,  which  was  given  by  the  women  of  the  state.  The 
girls  seem,  happy,  and  while  much  of  the  good  accomplished 
cannot  be  given  by  figures,  it  is  reported  by  the  authorities 
that  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  those  who  graduate  lead  good 
lives. 

For  many  years  there  has  been  a  growing  sentiment  in 
the  state  that  there  should  be  an  institution  for  young  men 
who  have  committed  offenses,  but  cannot  find  in  the  jails 
and  the  Wethersfield  prison  the  influences  and  training  best 


452  j\  History  of  Connecticut 

calculated  to  develop  them  for  useful  lives.  This  sentiment 
found  expression  in  an  act  passed  by  the  General  Assembly 
in  1909,  whereby  the  sum  of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars 
was  appropriated  for  the  building  of  the  Connecticut  State 
Reformatory,  and  it  was  enacted  that  there  should  be  five 
directors,  appointed  by  the  governor,  with  the  advice  of  the 
senate,  to  ptu-chase  a  site  and  erect  buildings,  and  they  were 
also  to  elect  a  superintendent  to  manage  the  institution  under 
the  rules  of  the  directors.  Those  who  are  to  be  sent  to  the 
reformatory  are  male  persons,  between  the  ages  of  sixteen 
and  twenty-five,  convicted  for  the  first  time  of  offenses 
punishable  in  the  state  prison  for  a  shorter  period  than  life. 
Those  between  sixteen  and  twenty-one  in  this  class  must 
be  sent  to  the  reformatory ;  those  between  the  ages  of  twenty- 
one  and  twenty-five  may  be  so  committed,  if  they  seem 
amenable  to  reformatory  methods.  The  judge  imposing 
a  reformatory  sentence  on  offenders  of  this  class  shall  not 
fix  the  term  unless  it  exceeds  five  years.  The  second  class 
is  of  persons  between  sixteen  and  twenty-five  never  before 
convicted  of  an  offense  punishable  with  a  prison  sentence, 
who  are  convicted  of  an  offense  which  may  be  punished  by 
a  maximum  imprisonment  of  one  year  in  jail.  Commitment 
of  these  offenders  to  the  reformatory  for  an  indeterminate 
sentence  of  not  more  than  three  years  shall  be  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  court.  The  third  class  is  of  persons  of  ages  as 
above,  never  convicted  of  an  offense  liable  to  a  prison  sen- 
tence, who  are  convicted  of  an  offense  which  may  be 
punished  by  a  maximum  imprisonment  in  jail  of  less  than 
a  year,  but  not  less  than  six  months;  these  may  be  com- 
mitted to  the  reformatory,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court,  for 
an  indefinite  term  of  not  more  than  two  years. 

Inmates  of  the  Connecticut  School  for  Boys  between 
the  ages  of  fourteen  and  twenty-one,  whom  the  trustees  of 
the  school  desire  to  have  transferred  to  the  reformatory,  and 
whom  the  directors  of  the  reformatory  are  willing  to  receive, 
may  also  be  committed,  to  be  detained  for  the  time  they 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institxitions         453 

could  be  held  at  the  school.  Any  inmate  of  the  reformatory, 
who  has  been  confined  there  for  not  less  than  a  year,  may  be 
paroled  at  the  discretion  of  a  majority  of  the  board  of 
directors  and  the  superintendent,  to  remain  in  legal  custody 
of  the  board  of  parole  until  his  sentence  expires.  Inmates 
who  persistently  refuse  to  obey  the  rules  may  be  transferred 
to  the  jail  of  the  county  whence  sentenced,  or  to  prison. 

The  directors  bought  at  a  cost  of  about  thirty-six  thousand 
dollars,  four  hundred  and  seventy  acres  in  the  northern 
part  of  Cheshire  in  a  sightly  and  beautiful  place,  amid 
attractive  scenery  and  in  healthful  surroundings.  There 
are  to  be  shops  for  the  learning  of  trades,  and  facilities  for 
the  uplift  of  the  inmates,  and  the  capacity  when  completed 
will  be  a  thousand  men.  Within  the  proposed  scheme  of 
the  reformatory  is  the  plan  of  a  dormitory  department,  to 
which  the  men  are  to  graduate  from  the  block  of  steel  cells. 
In  that  department  several  men  of  kindred  tastes  and 
development,  men,  for  example,  who  are  interested  in 
electrical  engineering,  who  have  proved  themselves  reliable, 
will  be  allowed  to  room  together,  and  not  only  enjoy  con- 
versation together,  but  will  be  able  to  help  one  another  in 
many  ways.  Infraction  of  rules,  or  breach  of  confidence, 
will  send  men  back  to  the  steel  cells  for  a  season.  The 
object  and  methods  of  the  institution  will  be  such  as  shall 
foster  hope,  encourage  self-respect,  and  train  for  self-support 
and  usefulness  as  citizens.  The  reformatory  opened  on 
June  24,  1913,  with  accommodations  for  four  hundred  men, 
with  Albert  Garvin  superintendent. 

There  is  also  an  association  to  befriend  discharged 
prisoners,  and  aid  in  the  repression  of  crime,  which  was 
organized  March  9,  1875,  called  The  Prisoners'  Friends 
Corporation,  and  December  8,  1876,  a  reorganization  was 
effected  under  the  name  of  The  Connectiait  Prison  Associa- 
tion. It  aims  to  help  reform  criminals,  assist  prisoners  toward 
industry  and  self-respect,  promote  reformatory  systems 
of  prison  management,  and  cooperate  in  the  prevention  and 


454  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

repression  of  crime.  A  committee  visits  the  prison  every 
month  to  talk  with  the  prisoners  about  to  be  released,  offers 
assistance,  and  advises  concerning  plans.  On  the  morning 
of  the  discharge,  an  agent  of  the  association  meets  the  pris- 
oner at  the  prison,  goes  with  him  to  Hartford,  and  carries 
out  the  plans  most  likely  to  benefit  him.  Necessary  clothing 
is  provided  in  addition  to  the  suit  given  on  his  discharge, 
transportation  home,  and  five  dollars  to  pay  the  first  week's 
board.  This  association  has  supervision  over  the  proba- 
tion service  of  the  state,  providing  blanks  for  reports  and 
books  for  record;  and  every  probation  officer  reports 
quarterly  to  the  prison  association.  The  probation  law 
was  enacted  in  1903,  and  it  provides  that  judges  shall 
appoint  probation  officers  in  different  parts  of  the  state  to 
act  under  the  direction  of  the  court  that  appoints  them. 
Their  duties  are  to  investigate  the  cases  to  appear  before 
the  court,  report  at  the  trials,  preserve  records  of  inves- 
tigations, take  charge  of  all  persons  placed  on  probation, 
and  require  of  them  reports  of  conduct.  Every  person 
placed  in  charge  of  a  probation  officer  is  the  ward  of  the 
officer.  There  are  few  other  laws  for  the  benefit  of  those 
in  danger  of  going  utterly  wrong  that  have  been  more 
valuable  in  their  working  than  the  probation  law. 

A  very  important  element  in  the  penal  and  reformatory 
system  of  the  state  is  the  county  jails.  These  are  used  for 
the  safe-keeping  of  persons  awaiting  trial,  and  for  the  deten- 
tion of  those  who  have  been  adjudged  guilty  of  crimes  less 
serious  than  those  requiring  sentences  to  the  state  prison. 
They  are  havens  of  rest  and  refreshment  for  persons 
poisoned,  delirious  and  woebegone  through  rum.  They  are 
fairly  comfortable  winter  homes  for  lazy  or  discouraged 
men,  for  vagrants  who  tire  of  stormy  wanderings  and  the 
densely  populated  town  lockups.  "Thirty  days  in  jail  and 
costs,"  is  a  mild  sedative  for  the  frivsky  spirits  of  a  young 
fellow,  who  is  not  bad,  only  a  little  careless,  sometimes 
reckless,  through  lack  of  home  training  and  evil  associates. 


Fenal  and  Reformatory  Institutions         455 

Good  people  are  wont  to  express  the  pious  wish  that  the 
"medicine"  will  do  the  patient  "a  lot  of  good."  The 
jails  are  under  the  care  of  sheriffs  elected  for  short  terms. 
The  iniquitous  fee  system  has  in  the  main  gone  by,  but 
the  salary  in  some  counties  is  large  enough  to  be  a  rich 
prize  to  those  who  seek  the  position.  If  political  skill  and 
popularity  were  qualifications  for  dealing  with  the  varie- 
gated assortment  of  youthful  offenders,  tramps,  "bound- 
overs,"  drunken  rounders,  and  seasoned  criminals,  then  the 
jail  system  is  ideal  in  its  management.  If  the  allurement  to 
help  the  men  toward  reform  and  reduce  crime  could  compete 
with  the  temptation  to  make  a  good  financial  showing,  the 
situation  might  be  relieved.  As  to  the  places  of  confinement, 
they  are  retarded  evolutions  of  the  jails  which  began  in  the 
little  germ  at  Hartford  in  1640,  "built  twenty-four  foote 
long,  and  sixteen  or  eighteen  broad,  with  a  Celler,  either  of 
wood  or  stowne."  They  are  parts  of  a  plant  whose  most 
gaudy  blossom  was  Newgate.  They  are  on  about  the  same 
level  as  the  other  jails  of  the  country,  of  which  the  American 
Prison  Association  in  1907,  through  a  committee,  which 
had  made  an  investigation  of  the  county  jails  of  different 
states,  with  the  cooperation  of  the  Charities  and  Commons, 
said,  "If  the  only,  or  chief  purpose  of  the  jails  were  to  keep 
wild  beasts  in  cages,  most  of  them  are  well  enough  adapted 
to  the  purpose." 

During  the  year  ending  September  30,  191 1,  ten  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  sixty  persons  were  sentenced  to  these 
jails.  The  average  jail  population  through  the  year  was 
one  thousand  and  seventy-one,  and  the  average  term  of 
commitment  was  thirty-six  days.  Though  the  jails  are  in 
charge  of  sheriffs  who  are  responsible  to  the  county  com- 
missioners, the  state  helps  in  the  financial  support,  and 
during  the  year  ending  September  30,  191 1,  Connecticut 
paid  for  the  board  of  prisoners  in  the  jails  over  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  thousand  dollars.  During  the  year  1910, 
the  state  gave  toward  the  support  of  the  prison,  twenty-one 


456  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  The  average  population 
in  the  prison  during  this  period  was  six  hundred  and  four, 
making  the  average  expense  to  the  state  of  each  inmate, 
less  than  thirty- six  dollars.  During  191 1,  the  average 
expense  for  each  inmate  in  the  county  jails  was  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  dollars.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  the  convicts  in  state  prison  are  committed  for  much 
longer  terms,  and  that  their  labor  is  worth  more  than  that 
of  short-term  inmates  of  the  jails.  During  the  year  ending 
September  30,  191 1,  the  total  receipts  from  the  labor  of 
prisoners  in  jails  was  twenty-four  thousand  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  dollars,  an  average  of  twenty-two  dollars  and  fifty- 
four  cents  a  year,  or  about  seven  cents  a  day  for  every  pris- 
oner. The  year  1909,  gives  a  little  better  showing — a 
little  over  nine  cents  a  day  apiece.  In  the  prison,  for  the 
year  ending  September  30,  1912,  the  population  was  six 
hundred  and  twenty-three,  and  the  earnings  were  seventy- 
eight  thousand  and  seventy-five  dollars,  or  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars  apiece.  Of  the  eleven  thousand  six 
hundred  and  fourteen  persons  sentenced  to  the  jails  during 
the  year  ending  September  30,  1910,  six  thousand  and  fifty 
had  been  in  jail  before,  and  of  the  ten  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  sixty  persons  sent  to  the  county  jails  in  the  j'-ear  ending 
September  30,  191 1,  four  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
four  were  committed  for  drunkenness,  three  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-four  for  breach  of  the  peace, 
larceny,  vagrancy,  and  trespass.  These  and  the  others 
committed  to  await  trial  and  for  other  reasons  are  not 
classified,  separated,  and  supervised  with  a  view  to  reform, 
except  that  the  ugliest  are  kept  in  cages,  the  bound-overs  are 
confined  in  their  cells,  and  the  rest  polish  leather,  make 
chairs,  brooms,  artificial  stone,  and  other  articles.  In  some 
jails,  there  is  no  open  court  where  the  bound-overs  can  exer- 
cise under  the  sky;  in  one  large  jail  these  men,  who  are  not 
to  be  considered  as  guilty  until  so  proved,  and  who  are  some- 
times compelled  to  stay  in  confinement  three  and  even  four 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institxitions         457 

months,  are  taken  from  their  cells  for  exercise  only  twice  a 
week,  when  they  walk  in  a  dismal  hallway.  In  another 
large  jail,  this  class  of  prisoners  is  solaced  by  permission  to 
visit  one  another;  and  one  can  see  two  men  locked  up  to- 
gether through  the  day,  an  evidence  of  the  sheriff's  desire 
to  be  kind,  even  at  the  risk  of  private  instruction  in  vice 
and  crime.  Women  in  the  jails  are  together  much  of  the 
time,  and  in  one  large  jail,  from  the  time  the  shops  close  on 
Saturday  noon  until  Monday  morning  the  men  are  allowed 
to  herd  together  in  sections,  not  according  to  degrees  of 
guilt,  or  likelihood  of  amendment,  but  according  to  location 
in  the  stacks  of  cells;  a  dozen  men  or  so  have  the  freedom 
of  a  corridor  perhaps  ten  by  thirty  feet.  Care  is  taken  that 
men  of  the  same  gang  are  confined  in  different  tiers,  but 
there  the  young  offender  and  toughened  reprobate  are  to- 
gether, with  all  the  opportunity  for  theft,  vile  stories,  and 
quarrels.  This  is  a  shade  better  than  the  custom  in  the 
Hartford  jail  in  1835,  when  prisoners  were  put  into  cells  in 
groups  of  five. 

An  observer,  who  has  seen  convicts  in  the  prison"sitting 
at  a  broad  table  conversing  in  a  self-respecting  way  with 
friends  opposite,  is  depressed  by  the  spectacle  of  jail  prisoners 
standing  talking  at  a  grating  of  so  fine  a  mesh  that  a  corpu- 
lent fly  could  not  crawl  through.  The  reason  for  the 
precaution  is  that  nothing  might  be  passed  to  the  pris- 
oner, but  the  inmates  of  the  prison  are  more  likely  to  be 
desperate  men  than  the  inmates  of  jails,  and  there  the 
supervision  of  officers  is  a  sufficient  safeguard.  The  con- 
tract system  is  not  so  bad  as  it  was  a  few  years  ago,  when 
overseers  of  the  company  buying  the  labor  were  allowed  to 
punish  the  men  according  to  their  judgment  or  caprice. 
The  custom  still  prevails  in  some  of  the  jails  of  handing  the 
prisoners  over  to  the  agents  of  the  company,  only  requiring 
that  bonds  be  given  to  return  them  in  undiminished  numbers 
at  noon  and  night.  There  is  no  officer  of  the  jail  in  attend- 
ance, and  the  only  object  the  contracting  company  has 


45^  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

in  view  is  to  get  all  the  work  possible  out  of  the  men.  As 
to  cleanliness,  there  is  considerable  diversity  in  this  very- 
difficult  matter,  according  to  the  judgment  and  vigilance 
of  sheriffs  and  jailers,  the  age  and  appliances  of  the  buildings, 
and  the  number  and  intelligence  of  the  officers  allowed  by  the 
commissioners  to  watch  out  against  the  ever-present  vermin. 
In  the  most  perfectly  equipped  modern  jails  and  prisons  it 
is  next  to  impossible  to  keep  down  the  creeping  population 
which  delights  to  infest  the  denizens  of  misery  and  crime. 
There  is  in  some  jails  of  the  state  a  more  exacting  and 
successful  hostility  to  these  offensive  parasites  than  in  others. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  the  county  jails  should  have  to  serve 
the  double  purpose  of  places  of  detention  for  sentenced 
men   and  the  safe-keeping  of  those  awaiting  trial. 

No  advance  in  the  methods  of  treating  drunkards  has 
been  made  since  1650,  when  fines  and  stocks,  with  imprison- 
ment until  reformation  for  obstinate  cases,  were  the  penal- 
ties. The  ridiculous  police  court  system  of  small  fine  and 
short  jail  sentence,  handed  thoughtlessly  down,  is  as  absurd 
a  method  as  could  be  imagined  for  a  crime  which  is  largely 
a  disease.  The  "Dean  of  all  the  drunkards,"  in  the  New 
Haven  jail,  illustrates  the  folly  of  the  system.  This  man 
entered  the  jail  about  the  year  1878,  and  most  of  the  time 
since  then  he  has  spent  in  the  same  cell  in  a  course  of  about 
two  hundred  sentences.  Hartford  has  a  rounder  who  has 
spent  the  greater  part  of  thirty-three  years  in  jail.  It  is 
estimated  that  the  state  is  spending  upwards  of  a  million 
dollars  a  year  in  this  irrational  and  ineffective  business. 
There  are  men  and  women  who  have  spent  most  of  the  past 
twenty  years  in  the  jails,  under  sentences  varying  from  thirty 
to  one  hundred  and  eighty  days.  When  not  returned  within  a 
week  or  two  of  dismissal,  the  jailer  begins  to  wonder  why 
the  familiar  guest  does  not  appear.  There  is  no  pretense 
or  expectation  that  the  costly  trials  and  imprisonments  will 
do  the  man  any  good;  one  institution  in  the  state  with  a 
large  farm  and  proper  medical  care  for  this  class  of  diseased 


Penal  and  Reformatory  Institutions  459 

men,  together  with  indeterminate  sentences,  would  promise 
something  valuable.  Then  there  are  the  youthful  offenders, 
who  need  discipline,  counsel,  encouragement,  and  wise  treat- 
ment; who  might  well  summon  the  ghosts  of  John  Howard 
and  Elizabeth  Fry  to  rid  them  of  the  "trusties,"  to  secure 
books  and  light,  and  to  help  them  to  their  feet. 

To  relieve  the  gloom  of  this  chapter,  and  present  a  hopeful 
method  of  work,  it  is  a  pleasure  to  notice  the  George  Junior 
Republic,  in  Litchfield.  There  upon  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  acres,  the  homestead  of  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Buell,  and 
given  by  her  for  the  uses  of  the  Republic,  is  an  institution 
for  boys  who  are  disposed  to  be  wayward,  and  who  are 
difficult  to  manage.  The  boys  must  have  reached  the  age 
of  fourteen  and  be  sound  in  mind  and  body.  It  is  not 
intended  to  receive  boys  who  are  confirmed  in  viciousness, 
but  upon  application  by  parents  and  by  commitment  by 
the  courts,  boys  are  taken  and  formed  into  a  small  common- 
wealth, under  an  efficient  superintendent,  a  housekeeper 
and  teachers.  The  school  furnishes  a  good  common  school 
training,  and  for  more  advanced  studies  some  boys  attend 
the  High  School,  which  is  two  and  a  half  miles  away.  The 
motto  of  the  institution  is  Nothing  without  Labor,  and  every 
boy  is  expected  to  earn  that  which  he  enjoys  or  consumes. 
The  hours  of  work  are  from  half -past  seven  until  twelve, 
and  school  follows,  from  one  until  five.  In  return,  every 
boy  receives  a  definite  wage  paid  him  in  the  scrip  of  the 
Republic,  and  with  this  he  must  pay  for  his  food  and  lodg- 
ing. Regular  accounts  are  kept  for  every  boy,  and  at  the 
weekly  reckoning,  he  must  show  a  bank  account  of  a  certain 
standard;  otherwise  he  becomes  a  pauper  and  undergoes 
certain  penalties.  These  operate  to  bring  him  back  to  his 
work  when  he  resumes  his  place  in  the  social  order.  The 
sources  of  employment  are  chiefly  the  farm  and  the  school, 
and  a  workshop  will  soon  furnish  opportunity  for  carpentry 
and  forge  work.  The  system  of  self-government  throws  a 
varying  weight  of  responsibility  on  every  boy,  which  tends 


460  j\  History  of  Coiinectic\ii 

to  develop  manhood.  He  passes  through  the  grades  of 
official  position — clerk  of  court,  state's  attorney,  chief  of 
police,  vice-president,  and  president;  he  learns  that  govern- 
ment is  not  outside  himself,  to  be  tricked  and  thwarted,  but 
that  he  is  a  part  of  a  necessary  system  of  control,  and  that 
his  own  well-being  is  wrapped  up  in  that  of  the  government. 
The  community  system  develops  a  spirit  of  patriotism, 
and  when  a  boy  reaches  the  time  to  leave  the  Republic,  he 
usually  does  so  trained  in  the  principles  of  self-government, 
and  prepared  to  enter  on  the  larger  responsibilities  of  good 
citizenship.  The  school  opened  in  April,  1904,  and  it  will 
soon  be  able  to  accommodate  forty  boys.  It  is  dependent 
upon  the  public  for  much  of  the  money  needed,  since  the 
parents  and  guardians  of  many  of  the  boys  are  poor.  One  of 
the  marked  features  of  the  George  Junior  Republic  is  the 
loyalty  it  develops,  and  the  boys  come  to  love  and  take 
pride  in  the  system  of  government  of  which  they  form  active 
parts. 

Of  late  there  has  been  a  strong  trend  toward  prevention 
of  crime  and  reform  of  criminals,  and  there  is  a  widespread 
hope  that  the  agitations  now  going  on,  and  measures  which 
are  forming,  will  lead  to  a  more  rational  treatment  of  incipient 
criminals.  The  probation  law  and  the  new  reformatory  are 
signs  of  progress. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 
PHILANTHROPIC  INSTITUTIONS 

OUR  narratives,  tracing  the  development  of  religion, 
penal  institutions,  and  laws  to  check  crime,  have 
prepared  us  for  an  elaborate  chapter  on  philanthropic 
institutions,  which,  though  late  in  coming,  are  developing 
into  a  varied  fruitage.  The  tardiness  characterizing  the 
coming  of  these  means  for  social  betterment  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  positive  and  extensive  methods  of  practical  help- 
fulness for  the  unfortunate  did  not  take  form  until  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century.  As  we  have  seen,  the 
towns  were  compelled  from  an  early  date  to  protect  them- 
selves and  their  comfortable  citizens  from  dangerous  and 
annoying  sufferers,  but  it  was  long  before  these  pitiable 
people  were  cared  for  because  they  were  needy.  The  first 
reference  to  an  insane  person  is  in  the  New  Haven  records 
for  1648,  in  which  we  read  that  Good  wife  Lampson  was 
cared  for  away  from  home,  but  as  there  was  "little  amend- 
ment," her  husband  was  ordered  "to  take  her  home,  or  else 
get  another  place  where  she  might  be  kept  and  looked  to." 
At  one  time  Norwich  was  greatly  bothered  with  the  trouble 
and  expense  of  maintaining  a  poor  Ediote,  or  spelled  some- 
times Edjouett,  named  Peter  Davison,  but  the  case  was 
referred  to  the  legislature,  which  made  provision  for  him, 
and  in  1699,  passed  a  law  entitled,  "An  Act  for  the  relieving 
of  Idiots  and  distracted  Persons,"  in  which  no  distinction 
was  made  between  insane,  feeble-minded  and  idiotic,  but 

461 


462  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

it  provided  that  whenever  a  person  should  be  "wanting  of 
understanding,  or  so  as  to  be  incapable  to  provide  for  him 
or  herself,"  or  should  become  insane,  and  no  relative  pro- 
vide, the  selectman  or  overseer  of  the  poor  was  to  make 
provision,  and  if  the  patient  had  property,  it  was  to  be  sold 
to  pay  the  charges,  and  if  not  the  town  must  pay  the  bills. 
The  duty  of  caring  for  the  unfortunate  person  lay  on  the 
officials  in  the  town  where  he  was  born,  or  was  an  inhabitant. 
This  was  long  before  there  were  any  asylums,  and  no  refer- 
ence was  made  to  any  such  institution,  or  to  the  method  of 
caring  for  the  patient.  The  workhouse  law  of  1727,  con- 
tained an  important  clause,  which  provided  for  the  confine- 
ment of  the  insane  in  the  workhouse,  if  he  was  unfit  to  be 
out  upon  the  street,  and  his  friends  did  not  care  for  him. 
The  advantage  of  depending  on  the  town  where  the  insane 
person  resided  rather  than  upon  the  town  where  he  was  born 
appeared  in  1756,  when  an  insane  person  was  seen  wandering 
through  Wallingford,  without  clothing,  and  the  Assembly 
ordered  the  town  to  provide  for  her.  Before  1750,  the  colony 
had  helped  support  several  persons,  who  by  the  revision  of 
that  year  were  made  colony  charges.  In  one  case  it  assisted 
a  father  to  care  for  his  demented  son,  who  had  become 
insane  while  in  the  military  service  of  the  colony. 

The  unwillingness  of  towns  to  care  for  insane  persons, 
who  were  at  times  allowed  to  wander  without  restraint,  led 
to  the  passing  of  the  law  of  1793.  This  made  it  the  duty  of 
the  civil  authority  and  selectmen  of  the  town  of  residence 
to  order  all  such  dangerous  insane  to  be  confined  in  a  suitable 
place.  They  might  even  order  that  they  be  committed  to 
the  jail.  At  the  same  time,  the  authority  to  commit  to  the 
workhouse  was  withdrawn.  In  1797,  the  section  regarding 
confinement  in  jail  was  repealed,  and  for  years  there  was  no 
public  place  in  which  insane  persons  who  were  not  criminals 
could  be  confined.  As  the  authorities  were  unwilling  to 
act  in  1824,  a  law  was  passed  that  any  citizen  could  com- 
plain to  one  of  the  civil  authority  or  selectmen  of  an  insane 


PHilantKropic  Institutions  463 

person  at  large,  and  if  in  three  days  no  action  was  taken, 
he  might  make  a  written  complaint,  under  oath,  to  any 
justice  of  the  peace  in  the  town,  informing  him  that  the 
person  was  "dangerous  and  unfit  to  be  without  restraint." 
It  was  then  the  duty  of  the  justice  of  the  peace  immediately 
by  warrant  to  have  the  person  brought  before  him,  or  some 
other  justice,  and  if  the  facts  justified,  order  him  to  be  con- 
fined in  a  suitable  place.  In  all  these  provisions  it  was  the 
protection  of  the  community,  and  not  the  care  of  the  harm- 
less insane,  that  was  considered.  Regard  for  them,  except 
through  conservators,  did  not  come  until  later.  In  the  law 
of  1793,  there  was  provision  made  for  the  first  time  for  the 
insane  criminal.  A  person  who  had  been  acquitted  of  man- 
slaughter, on  the  ground  of  insanity,  might  be  committed 
by  the  court  to  the  county  jail,  to  be  held  there  during  the 
continuance  of  his  insanity.  We  do  not  like  to  imagine  how 
those  unfortunates  were  treated  in  those  early  days,  but  in 
a  memorial  presented  to  the  Assembly  in  1786,  Mary  Weed 
of  Stratford  stated  that  for  twenty  years  her  husband  had 
been  so  insane  that  he  had  to  be  kept  chained. 

The  movement  for  the  relief  of  the  insane  in  America 
will  always  be  associated  with  the  name  of  Dr.  Eli  Todd,  who 
was  born  in  New  Haven  in  1769,  graduated  from  Yale  in 
1787,  and  when  scarcely  twenty-one  years  old  began  the 
practice  of  medicine  in  Farmington,  where  he  became  emi- 
nent for  his  skill  during  the  thirty  years  he  was  there.  In 
18 1 9,  he  moved  to  Hartford,  where  he  rose  at  once  to  the 
head  of  his  profession,  and  was  consulted  more  frequently 
than  any  other  physician  in  the  state.  In  the  spring  of 
182 1,  there  was  an  unusual  number  of  cases  of  insanity,  and 
Dr.  Todd,  seeing  the  difficulty  of  managing  them  in  the 
houses  of  their  friends  and  learning  that  there  were  at  least 
eight  hundred  such  sufferers  in  the  state,  many  of  them  wan- 
dering about  half-clad  and  wretched,  and  many  lodged  in 
poorhouses,  jails,  and  cages,  chained,  scourged,  and  despised, 
urged  upon  the  Hartford  IVIedical  Society  the  importance 


464  A  History  of  Connecticut 

of  an  institution  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers.  The  matter 
was  presented  to  the  Medical  Convention  of  the  state  by 
Dr.  Todd  with  such  eloquence  and  force  that  a  committee 
was  appointed,  of  which  he  was  chairman,  to  devise  wa3^s 
and  means  to  establish  an  institution;  subscriptions  to  the 
amount  of  twelve  thousand  dollars  were  secured,  a  charter 
obtained  from  the  legislature,  land  bought  in  Hartford,  and 
in  1824,  the  Retreat  was  ready  to  receive  sixty  patients. 
There  was  only  one  man  who  was  thought  of  for  superintend- 
ent and  physician,  and  that  was  Eli  Todd,  who  was  elected 
by  the  officials  January  7,  1823.  The  name  Retreat  was 
taken  from  the  famous  York  Retreat  of  England,  which 
was  founded  on  humane  lines  by  the  Quakers  in  1796,  under 
the  leadership  of  a  wealthy  merchant  named  William  Tuke. 
Todd  not  only  borrowed  the  name  but  he  adopted  the 
methods  of  the  Oxford  Retreat,  seeing  that  it  was  better  to 
regulate  by  interesting  employment  the  excitement  and 
delusions  of  the  insane  than  to  suppress  by  force.  His 
method  was  not  a  code  of  rules  but  personal  devotion, 
gentleness  and  tact;  his  profound  sympathy  with  the  men- 
tally diseased  stamped  all  his  views  and  conduct. 

The  success  of  the  new  method  was  clear;  the  inmates 
trusted  and  loved  Dr.  Todd  as  a  father,  and  it  was  soon 
known  far  and  wide  that  the  Retreat  was  a  pioneer  in  the 
philanthropic  treatment  of  a  neglected  class.  Massachu- 
setts sent  a  committee  headed  by  Horace  Mann  to  secure 
Todd's  services  in  establishing  an  institution  in  that  state 
at  a  salary  nearly  double  that  given  at  the  Retreat,  and  a 
similar  offer  came  to  take  charge  of  the  Bloomingdale 
Asylum  in  New  York,  but  he  chose  to  remain  in  Hartford, 
perfecting  the  methods,  introducing  trained  nurses,  taking 
up  the  subject  of  inebriety  and  its  treatment,  and  equipping 
men  to  take  charge  of  other  institutions  after  the  humane 
and  reasonable  method.  Dr.  Lee,  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Todd  who 
resided  two  or  three  years  at  the  Retreat,  became  physician 
of  the  McLean  Asylum  near  Boston;  Dr.  Woodward,  one 


PKilantHropic  Institvitions  465 

of  the  founders  and  one  of  the  medical  directors,  was  elected 
superintendent  of  the  Massachusetts  Insane  Hospital  at 
Worcester,  and  his  assistant,  a  man  from  Connecticut,  was 
the  first  physician  of  a  similar  establishment  in  New  Hamp- 
shire; another,  Dr.  J.  A.  Butler,  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
Boston  Asylum.  When  Vermont  established  an  asylum  at' 
Brattleboro,  Dr.  Rockwell,  a  faithful  assistant  of  Dr.  Todd, 
was  chosen  physician,  and  when  New  York  built  its  magnifi- 
cent hospital.  Dr.  Brigham  was  transferred  from  the  Hart- 
ford Retreat  to  the  Utica  Asylum.  Dr.  Todd  was  with  the 
Retreat  until  his  death  in  1833,  conciliatory  yet  dignified, 
looking  with  rare  skill  and  intuition  into  the  causes  of  mental 
disease,  taking  the  institution  in  its  infancy,  with  few  re- 
sources and  patients,  and  by  a  plan  of  management  pecul- 
iarly his  own,  carrying  it  into  successful  operation,  and 
raising  it  to  the  highest  character  by  the  cures  and  the  com- 
fort of  the  inmates. 

The  Hartford  Retreat  is  a  private  institution,  under 
state  supervision,  and  the  governor,  together  with  two 
commissioners,  appointed  by  the  legislature,  superintends 
the  general  affairs  of  the  hospital,  while  the  board  of  visitors 
and  the  management  are  not  under  public  control.  The 
Retreat  was  designed  for  those  who  are  able  to  pay  for  treat- 
ment, but  on  May  19,  1830,  the  directors  passed  resolutions 
directing  that  indigent  lunatics  be  admitted,  provided  that 
the  disease  had  not  existed  six  months,  and  that  the  number 
of  such  persons  in  the  Retreat  did  not  exceed  ten,  and  that 
no  person  of  that  description  should  remain  in  the  institution 
over  six  months. 

In  the  spring  of  1838,  a  set  of  questions  was  sent  through 
the  state,  similar  to  the  questions  of  182 1.  On  the  basis 
of  the  returns  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  nine  hundred 
insane  persons  in  Connecticut,  about  one-half  of  whom  were 
paupers.  Many  were  cared  for  at  home  by  those  who  could 
not  afford  to  support  them  elsewhere.  The  facts  were 
presented  to  the  Assembly  in  a  memorial  from  the  directors 
30 


466  A  History  of  Connecticut 

of  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane.  This  was  continued  to  the 
next  session,  and  a  committee  of  three  was  appointed  to 
investigate.  The  committee  reported  that  there  were 
proba^bly  more  than  seventy  sufferers  who  were  confined  in 
cells  or  in  chains,  that  there  were  at  least  nine  hundred 
insane  and  idiotic  persons  in  the  state,  and  that  sixty  be- 
came insane  every  year.  It  recommended  that  there  should 
be  established  a  state  institution  to  accommodate  one 
hundred  and  twenty  patients,  to  be  located  on  a  plot  of  not 
less  than  fifty  acres.  It  was  suggested  that  it  be  near  the 
Retreat,  that  it  might  be  under  the  same  medical  super- 
vision. It  believed  that  drunkards  should  be  confined 
also,  holding  that  drunkenness  was  a  real  disease,  thus 
anticipating  by  thirty  years  the  views  leading  to  institu- 
tions for  inebriates.  In  1839,  another  committee  reported 
that,  having  consulted  the  directors  of  the  Retreat,  they  had 
learned  that  for  not  more  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars, 
sufficient  land  could  be  secured  near  the  Retreat,  and  build- 
ings erected  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  patients.  The  Retreat 
would  care  for  these  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars  per  week. 
The  committee,  however,  favored  a  separate  institution.  The 
Assembly  appointed  a  committee  to  select  a  site.  The 
report,  which  was  submitted  to  the  legislature  in  1840,  rec- 
ommended the  erection  in  Middletown  of  a  state  institution 
for  the  insane.  The  Assembly  did  not  adopt  the  report,  but 
directed  the  selectmen  to  send  to  the  secretary  of  state  a  cor- 
rect list  of  the  insane  and  idiotic  persons  about  town,  speci- 
fying which  each  was,  stating  whether  they  were  harmless  or 
dangerous,  and  giving  their  names,  ages,  length  of  time  they 
had  been  insane,  the  causes,  if  known,  how  they  were  sup- 
ported, the  cost  per  week  of  those  cared  for  by  the  town,  and 
how  many  of  these  the  town  would  probably  support  in  a  state 
institution  at  two  dollars  a  week,  the  price  at  which  the 
directors  of  the  Retreat  had  offered  to  care  for  the  patients. 
In  1842,  the  governor  was  made  a  commissioner  to  enter  into 
a  contract  with  the  Retreat  to  receive  the  insane  who  could 


PHilantKropic  Institutions  467 

not  pay  their  way,  at  a  cost  not  to  exceed  two  thousand  dollars 
a  3^ear.  This  method  was  followed  until  there  was  a  state 
asylum,  although  the  expense  increased.  From  1853,  to 
1857,  it  amounted  to  nearly  thirty-seven  thousand  dollars. 
In  1868,  the  appropriation  was  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
besides  the  amount  given  the  Retreat  for  the  erection  of  new 
buildings.  From  1842,  to  1851,  there  were  admitted  to  the 
Retreat  four  hundred  and  thirty-nine  state  beneficiaries, 
of  whom  two  hundred  and  eleven  had  been  discharged  cured. 
In  1845,  a  law  was  passed  authorizing  selectmen  to  make 
contracts  with  the  Retreat  for  the  care  of  their  insane 
poor,  and  in  1855,  the  state  began  to  help  the  towns  in  this 
expense. 

In  1866,  it  was  clearly  seen  that  Connecticut  must  make 
"ample  and  suitable  provision  for  its  insane,"  of  whom  it 
was  computed  that  there  were  between  four  and  five  hun- 
dred in  need  of  a  hospital.  A  board  of  trustees  was  ap- 
pointed; many  institutions  in  other  states  were  visited,  and  a 
tract  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  was  offered  by  Middle- 
town  for  a  site.  Afterward  eighty  acres,  connecting  with 
the  larger  tract,  was  purchased,  and  the  work  of  putting 
up  buildings  began  in  the  autumn  of  1867.  *  It  was  called 
"The  General  Hospital  for  the  Insane  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut."  It  was  found  by  examination  in  other  states 
that  the  cost  of  a  suitable  building  would  be  at  the  rate  of 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy -two  dollars  for  every 
patient.  While  the  outlay  was  heavy,  it  was  argued 
that  a  felon's  cell  was  no  place  for  one  afflicted  with 
the  terrible  disease,  and  that  while  an  early  treatment  led  to 
cure  in  about  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  cases,  not  more  than  one 
in  ten  recovered  after  the  delicate  texture  of  the  brain  had 
so  suffered  by  neglect  that  it  had  become  permanently  im- 
paired. In  1868,  the  directors  of  the  Retreat  notified  the 
towns  having  patients  there  to  remove  the  inmates  by 
the  first  of  May,  that  improvements  might  be  made  in  the 
building.     Gradually  the  Middletown  Hospital  was  enlarged, 


468  A  History  of  Connectic-ut 

and  additional  appliances  introduced,  such  as  books,  papers, 
music,  plants  and  social  entertainments,  and  the  farm  be- 
came a  means  of  profit  in  many  ways.  In  1870,  an  eminent 
pathologist  was  employed  to  study  and  treat  cases  of  special 
difficulty.  In  1871,  the  cottage  system  was  tested  and  found 
valuable  for  a  certain  class  of  patients,  and  about  that  time, 
the  custom  began  of  setting  apart  an  evening  a  week  to 
music  and  dancing.  On  other  evenings  there  are  stereopti- 
con  exhibitions,  lectures,  concerts,  and  readings;  it  is  also  the 
practice  to  have  a  band  playing  during  meals.  Outdoor 
military  drill  has  been  found  of  decided  value  in  quieting 
the  nerves.  In  1877,  the  price  of  board  was  four  dollars 
per  week,  and  in  case  a  patient  came  at  the  expense  of  the 
town,  the  cost  was  divided  equally  between  state  and  town. 
The  optimism  prevailing  in  the  earlier  years  concerning  the 
probable  recovery  of  a  large  proportion  waned,  as  it  was 
found  that  of  the  fifteen  hundred  and  eighty  inmates  in 
1894,  oiiJ^y  seventy-four  had  been  insane  less  than  a  year,  and 
over  a  thousand  for  more  than  five  years.  In  1902,  the 
number  of  inmates  was  two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
fifty-nine,  and  in  191 2,  it  had  increased  to  two  thousand 
five  hundred  and  twenty. 

The  report  of  1899,  stated  that  the  town  statistics 
showed  three  hundred  and  thirty-six  cases  outside  the 
asylums.  The  State  Hospital  contained  one  hundred  and 
twenty  more  than  could  well  be  accommodated,  and  the 
average  annual  increase  of  the  insane  in  the  state  was  sixty- 
four  ;  it  was  consequently  regarded  as  unwise  to  enlarge  the 
State  Hospital  further.  The  majority  of  the  committee 
recommended  that  there  be  erected  on  a  site  offered  to  the 
state  by  Norwich  a  second  hospital  to  accommodate  one 
thousand  patients.  The  recommendation  of  the  minority 
to  make  changes  in  the  Middletown  Hospital  was  adopted. 
In  1903,  the  Assembly''  passed  an  act  creating  a  state  hospital 
to  be  known  as  the  Norwich  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  pro- 
vided  that    Norwich   would    donate   the   necessary   land, 


PKilantKropic  Institvitions  469 

according  to  its  former  vote.  It  was  accepted,  and  the 
hospital  was  opened  October  10,  1904.  At  the  close  of  the 
first  year  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  patients 
in  the  hospital.  At  the  present  time  there  are  nearly  eight 
hundred  patients.  A  better  location  for  the  cure  of  the 
mentally  diseased  could  not  be  imagined.  The  ground 
rises  sharply  from  the  Thames  River,  and  then  spreads  out 
into  a  level  plain  of  sixty  acres.  A  beautiful  brook  flows 
through  the  farm.  Quiet,  restfulness,  and  lovely  views  in 
all  directions  form  healthful  and  attractive  conditions. 

Every  patient  receives  a  thorough  mental  and  physical 
examination  within  twenty-four  hours  of  his  admission. 
Diet  and  treatment  correspond  with  the  diagnosis.  Me- 
chanical restraint,  as  at  Middletown,  has  been  dispensed 
with  as  far  as  possible.  In  this  particular  there  has  been  a 
marked  change  in  the  last  forty  years.  It  is  never  applied 
except  under  the  written  order  of  a  medical  officer,  and  when 
the  supervisor  or  a  medical  officer  is  present.  Trial  visits 
to  relatives  are  encouraged  for  the  convalescent.  Indus- 
trial work  on  the  farm  and  in  the  kitchen,  laundry,  and 
sewing-rooms  furnishes  employment  for  many.  Amusement 
is  supplied  as  far  as  the  facilities  admit.  A  laboratory  has 
been  installed  which  has  added  greatly  to  the  accuracy  of 
diagnosis  through  the  tests  of  clinical  material. 

The  whole  subject  of  mental  disease  has  been  carefully 
studied  of  late,  and  insanity  is  placed  in  a  new  light;  and 
superstition  with  all  the  traditional  notions  of  demoniacal 
possession  has  been  swept  aside,  as  it  is  known  that  brain 
tissues  may  be  diseased  as  well  as  the  lungs.  As  a  conse- 
quence of  this  confidence,  the  public  asylums  have  grown 
rapidly,  and  large  numbers  of  insane  persons,  who  had  been 
kept  in  seclusion,  have  been  transferred  to  the  state  asylums ; 
then  too,  the  industrial  situation  of  the  last  thirty  years 
has  tended  to  fill  asylums,  as  more  women  have  worked 
in  shops  and  manufactories,  for  it  has  been  found  expedient 
to  support  a  relative  at  Middletown  for  two  dollars  a  week, 


470  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

and  thereby  release  a  woman  who  can  earn  eight  dollars 
a  week.  We  also  bear  in  mind  that  some  who  formerly 
went  to  the  jails  are  sent  to  the  asylums ;  there  are  also  poor 
wrecks  of  humanity  who  cannot  be  conveniently  cared  for 
at  home,  and  these,  with  others  whose  minds  are  diseased, 
are  kept  along  through  good  care  and  nursing.  It  comes  to 
pass  that  the  increase  in  insanity,  which  the  statistics  give, 
is  more  apparent  than  real,  though  hospitals  are  crowded, 
and  a  waiting  list  of  thirty  or  more  is  often  found  at  the 
offices.  These  things  are  to  be  borne  in  mind  when  we  note 
that  the  ratio  of  the  insane  who  are  officially  regarded  as 
such  to  the  general  population  in  1870,  was  one  to  six 
hundred  and  ninety-six;  in  1880,  one  to  three  hundred  and 
sixty;  in  1890,  one  to  three  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  and  in 
1914  the  ratio  is  the  highest  recorded:  viz.,  one  to  three 
hundred.  There  are  about  thirty-five  hundred  in  our 
various  institutions,  and  there  are  enough  at  large  to  swell 
the  number  to  four  thousand. 

The  question  now  arises,  to  what  extent  do  the  foreign- 
born  affect  our  asylum  population?  It  is  clear  that  they 
constitute  an  important  factor,  and  one  that  is  steadily 
advancing,  as  appears  from  the  fact  that  in  1850,  four  per 
cent,  were  foreign-born;  in  i860,  eleven  per  cent.;  in  1870, 
twenty-one  per  cent.;  in  1880,  twenty-nine  per  cent,  and  in 
1890,  thirty-nine  per  cent.  This  table  does  not  show  the 
percentages  of  those  who  were  born  in  this  country  of 
foreign  parents,  one  or  both.  In  the  computation  of  the 
decade  from  1900,  to  19 10,  this  feature  is  made  to  appear 
in  the  reckoning,  and  assists  in  the  total  of  over  forty-two 
per  cent,  of  cases  admitted  as  public  beneficiaries.  In  1900, 
the  foreign-born  population  of  the  state  was  twenty-six 
per  cent,  of  the  entire  population;  in  1910,  twenty-nine 
and  five-tenths  per  cent.,  and  during  1 898-1 902,  thirty- 
eight  per  cent,  of  the  admissions  to  the  hospitals  were  of 
foreign  birth  and  parentage.  In  other  words,  twenty-six 
per  cent,  of  the  population  furnished  thirty-eight  per  cent. 


PKilantKropic  Institutions  471 

of  the  insane  during  those  four  years.  England  matches 
our  increase,  and  Lord  Rosebery  recently  stated  that  in 
fifty  years  the  population  had  increased  seventy-five  per 
cent.,  and  lunacy  two  hundred  and  thirty  per  cent. 

The  support  of  paupers  and  indigent  persons  is  paid  in 
part  by  the  state,  and  the  price  is  fixed  by  the  trustees, 
except  that  the  total  expense  for  Connecticut  paupers  is 
limited  to  three  dollars  and  a  half  per  week,  and  for  those 
not  resident  in  a  Connecticut  town  and  supported  entirely 
by  the  state  it  is  three  dollars.  This  must  include  "all 
necessary  food,  clothing,  medicine  and  medical  attend- 
ance." Since  1895,  the  towns,  whose  selectmen  apply  for  the 
admission  of  a  pauper,  pay  two  dollars  per  week,  and 
the  state  pays  the  balance.  Instead  of  sending  paupers  to 
the  State  Hospital,  selectmen  may  contract  with  the  Re- 
treat at  Hartford.  It  became  evident  a  few  years  ago 
that  taxpayers  contributed  to  support  so  many  foreign-born 
dependents  that  Congress  was  appealed  to.  In  1903,  "An 
Act  to  Regulate  the  Immigration  of  Aliens  into  the  United 
States"  was  passed  without  opposition,  under  which  all 
persons  who  had  been  insane  within  five  years  previous,  all 
idiots,  epileptics,  and  others  likely  to  become  a  public  charge 
were  excluded.  This  was  not  satisfactory,  and  in  1907,  a  more 
stringent  measure  was  passed,  under  which  an  alien  that  has 
been  afflicted  by  any  disease  likely  to  render  him  a  public 
charge  at  any  time  prior  to  landing  is  considered  a  subject 
for  deportation.  This  has  tended  to  lower  the  percentage 
of  the  foreign  insane,  but  in  spite  of  this,  there  is  a  slight 
increase,  chiefly  from  Russia,  Poland,  Austria,  and  Italy. 

Questions  are  often  asked  concerning  the  treatment  of 
the  insane.  The  horrible  cruelties  discovered  in  England 
a  century  ago  have  left  in  some  minds  a  trace  of  suspicion 
concerning  the  excessive  use  of  the  strait-jacket,  wristlets, 
leather  or  canvas  muff  and  mittens  and  anklets.  So  violent 
is  the  reaction  against  mechanical  restraints,  that  in  1890, 
it  was  ordered  that  they  be  disused,  and  that  attendants  be 


472  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

required  to  hold  the  violent  patient.  There  is  objection 
to  this  from  several  sources,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  a  powerful  man  may  require  six  attendants  to  master 
him.  At  present,  mechanical  restraint  is  rarely  used,  and 
only  in  such  desperate  cases  of  suicidal  tendency  as  compels 
its  employment  to  save  life.  The  rule  in  all  institutions  is  to 
allow  the  patients  the  utmost  freedom  consistent  with  safety. 
Many  are  allowed  to  go  about  the  grounds  without  super- 
vision of  any  kind,  and  others  obtain  permission  to  go 
about  town,  make  purchases  at  the  stores,  attend  church  or 
circus,  and  very  few  abuse  the  confidence  reposed  in  them; 
when  an  escape  is  recorded,  it  is  the  rule  that  one  of  these 
persons  who  was  trusted  failed  to  keep  his  promise  to  return 
within  a  given  time. 

The  American  School  for  the  Deaf  at  Hartford,  is  the 
oldest  institution  for  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  in  the 
United  States,  and  it  owes  its  origin  to  the  efforts  of  Dr. 
Mason  F.  Cogswell,  whose  infant  daughter,  while  suffering 
from  spotted  fever  in  1807,  became  totally  deaf.  When 
she  was  ten  years  old,  the  father,  wishing  to  procure  for  her 
an  education,  sought  the  cooperation  of  his  friends  and 
neighbors  to  establish  a  school  for  deaf-mutes.  The  funds 
were  readily  secured,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Gallaudet 
was  chosen  to  lead  in  the  matter.  Though  unwilling  to 
give  up  the  ministry,  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  go  to  England 
to  study  methods;  meeting  opposition  there  he  went  to 
Paris,  where  Abbe  Sicard  was  in  charge  of  the  institution 
for  deaf-mutes,  founded  in  1760,  by  the  Abbe  de  I'Epee. 
Gallaudet  had  every  facility  offered  him  there  to  learn  the 
art,  and  after  a  year's  instruction,  he  returned  in  August, 
18 16,  bringing  with  him  Laurent  Clerc,  a  pupil  of  Sicard,  and 
instructor  in  the  Paris  institution.  An  act  of  incorporation 
was  granted  by  the  legislature  in  18 16,  for  the  "Connecticut 
Asylum  for  the  Education  and  Instruction  of  Deaf  and 
Dumb  Persons."  The  legislature  appropriated  five  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  private  gifts  yielded  twelve  hundred  more. 


^       o 

o 


H     - 


PKilantHropic  Institutions  473 

On  April  15,  181 7,  the  school  was  opened  in  a  building  on 
Main  Street,  Hartford.  The  attendance  increased  so  much 
that  the  directors  thought  that  the  work  should  be  national, 
and  Congress  was  induced  to  give  an  appropriation.  On 
account  of  this  gift,  and  the  probability  that  the  institution 
would  be  largely  national,  it  was  thought  best  to  change  the 
name  to  the  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb. 
The  name  now  is  American  School  for  the  Deaf.  The 
buildings  now  occupied  were  opened  in  1821,  and  in  that 
year  arrangements  were  made  with  other  New  England 
states  to  educate  their  deaf.  The  system  is  eclectic:  the 
manual  alphabet,  natural  signs,  writing,  lip-reading,  and 
articulation  are  all  used  to  secure  mental  development  and 
a  ready  use  of  the  English  language,  oral  and  written. 
Teaching  in  articulation  and  lip-reading  began  in  1857,  and 
there  are  several  classes  conducted  almost  wholly  by  oral 
methods. 

Action  by  the  legislature  concerning  the  deaf  is  as  follows. 
In  1829,  selectmen  were  required  by  a  law  passed  that  year  to 
report  to  the  governor  by  January  of  each  year,  the  number 
of  deaf  and  blind  persons  within  their  respective  towns, 
together  with  the  age,  sex  and  pecuniary  circumstances  of 
each.  In  1837,  the  governor  was  appointed  a  commissioner 
to  select,  upon  examination  and  evidence,  deaf  persons  be- 
tween the  ages  of  twelve  and  twenty-five,  belonging  to 
Connecticut,  whose  parents  could  not  contribute  to  their 
education  at  the  school  in  Hartford.  He  might  contract 
with  the  school  for  their  education,  for  not  more  than  five 
years,  and  on  terms  not  less  favorable  than  were  granted  to 
other  states.  They  were  to  cost  the  state  not  more  than 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars  a  year,  which  included  an  allow- 
ance of  not  more  than  twenty  dollars  a  year  for  clothing. 
In  1843,  the  age  limits  were  made  eight  and  twenty-five. 
The  amount  of  annual  appropriation  was  increased  from  time 
to  time  until,  in  1874,  it  was  made  eleven  thousand  dollars. 
In  1 87 1,  the  governor  was  authorized  to  contract  with  Clark 


474  -A.  History  of  Connectic-ut 

Institute  of  Northampton  for  the  education  of  several,  and 
later,  to  send  those  who  had  lived  in  the  state  for  five 
years  to  Groton  at  an  annual  expense  of  not  more  than  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars.  In  1899,  it  was  decided 
to  give  the  preference  to  the  Hartford  school,  because  of 
its  eclectic  instruction.  The  cost  per  pupil  is  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  per  year,  and  the  governor  chooses  the  state 
beneficiaries  from  the  list  furnished  by  selectmen. 

Interest  in  the  blind  began  at  the  same  time  with  that 
of  the  deaf.  From  1829,  selectmen  were  required  to  report 
to  the  governor  by  January  15  of  each  year,  the  number  of 
blind  persons  in  their  towns,  with  age,  sex,  and  pecuniary 
circumstances.  In  1838,  the  governor  was  appointed 
commissioner  of  the  blind.  He  was  to  select  blind  persons 
under  the  age  of  twenty-five  to  educate  in  the  New  England 
Institution  for  the  Blind,  in  Boston,  for  not  more  than  five 
years,  provided  their  friends  could  not  contribute  to  their 
support.  The  expense  was  limited  to  one  thousand  dollars 
a  year.  In  1840,  the  age  limit  was  raised  to  forty,  provided 
there  were  not  enough  suitable  persons  under  twenty-five. 
In  1845,  the  age  restriction  was  removed  entirely,  because  the 
appropriation  was  not  all  called  for.  By  1856,  the  amount 
was  raised  to  two  thousand  dollars,  and  in  1874,  it  had 
become  six  thousand  dollars  a  year.  In  1867,  a  bill  was 
passed  giving  selectmen  authority  to  exempt  from  taxation 
the  estate  of  blind  persons  who  were  unable  to  support 
themselves  and  their  families,  and  in  1873,  this  exemption 
was  made  mandatory.  As  those  who  had  been  educated 
in  the  Perkins  School  in  Boston  on  returning  home  lapsed 
into  their  former  helpless  condition  a  law  was  passed  in 
1893,  which  aimed  to  secure  an  education  for  every  blind 
child  in  the  state. 

The  act  created  the  board  of  education  for  the  blind.  It 
consists  of  the  governor  and  the  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  as  permanent  members,  and  of  one  man  and  one 
woman  besides,  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  for  four 


PHilantHropic  Institutions  475 

years.  The  board  may  provide  for  the  education,  for  so 
long  time  as  it  deems  expedient,  of  "blind  persons,  or  persons 
so  nearly  blind  they  cannot  have  instruction  in  the  public 
schools,  who  are  of  suitable  age  and  capacity  for  instruction 
in  the  simple  branches  of  education,  and  who  are  legal  resi- 
dents of  the  state."  The  expense  for  each  pupil  may  not 
exceed  three  hundred  dollars  a  year,  except  that  where  par- 
ents are  unable  to  provide  clothing  and  transportation,  an 
additional  thirty  dollars  may  be  allowed.  The  board  may 
contract  for  education  with  any  institution  it  may  choose, 
and  compel  attendance  of  any  minor  blind  child. 

The  Connecticut  Institute  and  Industrial  Home  for  the 
Blind,  created  by  the  act  of  1893,  has  been  of  great  service, 
and  two  years  after  it  opened,  fifteen  thousand  dollars  was 
appropriated  to  provide  needed  buildings,  furniture,  machin- 
ery, tools,  implements,  and  apparatus  for  the  use  of  the 
blind.  The  institute  was  exempted  from  taxation,  and 
authorized  to  sell  in  any  part  of  the  state  without  license 
any  goods  manufactured  in  whole  or  in  part  by  it  in  the 
training  of  the  blind.  In  1899,  it  was  voted  that  no  male 
pupil  should  be  supported  by  the  state  in  the  industrial 
department  of  any  institution  for  more  than  three  years, 
during  which  time  he  was  to  be  given  practical  and  unin- 
terrupted instruction  in  a  useful  occupation  conducive  to 
his  future  support.  Also,  that  at  the  termination  of  this 
period,  the  state  board  for  the  education  of  the  blind  might, 
under  such  conditions  as  it  deemed  necessary,  provide  him 
with  machinery,  tools,  and  materials  to  an  amount  not 
exceeding  two  hundred  dollars,  to  establish  him  in  some 
useful  occupation.  In  1903,  it  was  voted  to  allow  this  aid 
to  any  blind  person,  a  legal  resident  of  the  state,  who  has 
been  its  beneficiary  in  an  industrial  institution  for  the  blind, 
on  condition  that  the  board  is  assured  that  he  is  "industrious, 
of  good  habits,  and  competent  to  carry  on  in  a  competent 
manner  a  trade." 

The  work  of  Connecticut  for  the  blind  at  present  is  in 


47^  A  History  of  Connecticvit 

three  departments — nursery,  school,  and  trades.  The  nur- 
sery has  a  pleasant  home  in  a  house  given  by  E.  T.  Stotes- 
bury  of  Philadelphia,  and  seventeen  little  children  were  cared 
for  there  the  past  year.  The  school  had  enrolled  in  the  year 
ending  June  30, 1912,  forty-seven  pupils.  It  is  located  in  a  new 
and  admirable  building  on  the  corner  of  Blue  Hills  Avenue 
and  Holcomb  Street,  Hartford.  In  addition  to  the  usual 
studies  in  public  schools,  instruction  is  given  in  typewriting, 
music,  including  piano  practice  and  sloyd  carpentry.  The 
musical  Braille  notation,  a  tactile  system  of  raised  dots, 
furnishes  means  for  the  beginning  of  a  musical  education. 
The  children  also  work  in  the  garden,  and  soon  learn  to 
distinguish  between  carrots,  potatoes  and  corn,  and  weeds. 
It  is  the  policy  of  the  state  to  send  children  from  this  school 
to  the  Perkins  institution,  where  they  are  kept  as  long  as  the 
board  thinks  best.  The  department  of  trades  on  Wethers- 
field  Avenue,  Hartford,  had  under  its  charge  in  the  two 
years  ending  with  191 2,  fifty-seven  blind  people — thirty- 
one  pupils,  twenty-two  workers,  and  four  boarders.  The 
industries  taught  and  practiced  are  broom-making,  all  kinds  of 
chair-seating,  mattress-making,  rug-weaving,  and  basketry, 
and  these  have  been  carried  on  with  success  and  profit,  so 
that  graduates  can  earn  their  living.  A  course  in  poultry- 
keeping  and  agriculture  has  also  been  added.  The  gift  of 
Mrs.  William  H.  Palmer  of  a  tract  of  forty  acres  of  land 
in  Wethersfield  will  furnish  ample  field  for  development 
in  farming  and  poultry. 

Another  form  of  philanthropy  is  the  care  of  the  feeble- 
minded. The  United  States  Census  of  1850,  called  attention 
to  the  problem  of  idiocy,  and  reported  two  hundred  and 
eighty-four  idiots  in  Connecticut.  More  accurate  investiga- 
tion in  1855,  by  a  commission,  estimated  that  there  were 
five  hundred  idiots  in  the  state,  and  nearly  all  of  them  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  dependent  on  public  charity.  In 
1856,  returns  were  received  from  one  hundred  and  five 
towns,  and  from  these  returns  it  was  estimated  that  there 


PHilantHropic  Institvitions  477 

were  at  least  eleven  hundred  idiots  in  Connecticut.  The 
age  was  less  than  twenty  in  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  cases 
given.  The  commission  found  that  the  state  was  manu- 
facturing idiots.  In  one  instance,  where  a  pauper  female 
idiot  Hved  in  one  town,  the  town  authorities  hired  an  idiot 
belonging  to  another  town,  and  not  a  pauper,  to  marry  her, 
and  the  result  has  been  that  the  town  to  which  the  male 
idiot  belongs,  has  for  many  years  had  to  support  the  pair, 
and  three  idiot  children.  Two  or  three  towns  had  families 
all  the  members  of  which  were  idiots.  There  were  two 
families  with  five  idiots  each.  In  one  instance,  where  three 
children  were  idiots,  they  had  been  kept  in  a  close  room  by 
their  mother,  in  a  most  filthy  condition,  tied  with  a  short 
rope  around  their  necks,  and  were  never  suffered  to  stand 
or  take  the  fresh  air.  The  cost  of  idiocy  was  found  to  be 
heavy.  There  were  towns  of  less  than  two  thousand  popu- 
lation, where  the  tax  for  idiot  paupers  was  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  a  year.  The  commission  advised  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  school  for  one  hundred  pupils.  They  recom- 
mended that  it  be  a  private,  state-aided  institution,  rather 
than  one  controlled  by  the  state,  to  keep  it  out  of  politics, 
for  the  sake  of  economy,  and  that  it  might  be  an  object  of 
charity.  This  was  voted  down,  but  in  1859,  Dr.  Henry  M. 
Knight,  a  member  of  the  commission,  established  at  Lake- 
ville  a  school  for  imbeciles  with  one  pupil.  The  legislature 
of  i860,  authorized  the  governor  to  expend  not  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  for  the  support  of  indigent,  idiotic 
children  in  the  Lakeville  school.  In  1862,  the  appropriation 
of  the  two  previous  years  was  made  annual;  in  1864,  the 
amount  was  increased  to  three  thousand  dollars  a  year, 
not  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  to  be  spent  on  each 
pupil,  save  in  exceptional  cases.  In  1873,  the  governor  was 
authorized  to  spend  seven  thousand  dollars  a  year,  the 
amount  to  each  pupil  being  raised  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars.  Other  grants  aggregating  thirty-three 
thousand  dollars  have  also  been  made  to  the  school.     In 


478  A  History  of  Cotiniecticut 

1874,  eighty-one  were  received,  of  whom  thirty-five  were 
beneficiaries  of  the  state.  It  has  been  enlarged;  lands  and 
buildings  have  been  added,  with  a  lien  which  would  allow 
the  state  to  foreclose,  if  they  should  ever  be  diverted  from 
their  present  use.  It  is  still  a  private  corporation,  but  by 
an  amendment  to  its  charter  in  1887,  the  governor  annually 
appoints  two  members  of  the  executive  committee,  who  are 
ex  officio  members  of  the  board  of  directors,  to  guard  the 
interests  of  the  state.  The  school  can  now  accommodate 
three  hundred  and  eighty  pupils,  about  seventy  of  whom  are 
epileptics. 

The  lamented  death  of  Dr.  Knight  in  19 12,  has  not 
interfered  with  the  work  of  this  admirably  organized  school, 
which  is  conducted  under  the  supervision  of  Mrs.  Knight, 
and  in  191 3,  the  legislature  arranged  to  have  the  state  take 
over  this  school.  Whenever  a  pauper  imbecile  child  is 
found  in  any  town  of  the  state  who  would  be  benefited  by 
attending  the  Lakeville  school,  the  selectmen  apply  to  the 
Probate  Court  for  such  admission.  Investigation  follows, 
and  if  an  order  is  given  by  the  Court  to  send  the  child  to 
Lakeville,  it  must  be  approved  by  the  governor.  The  state 
pays  quarterly  to  the  school  two  dollars  and  a  half  for  every 
week  a  child  committed  by  a  selectman  remains  in  the  school. 
The  difference  between  this  sum  and  the  actual  cost  of 
support  is  paid  by  the  friends,  or  if  the  child  is  a  pauper,  by 
the  town,  and  this  expense  is  one  hundred  dollars.  In  1895, 
an  act  was  passed  forbidding  the  marriage  of  epileptics  or 
imbeciles,  and  in  1910-11,  an  act  was  passed  appointing  a 
commission  to  render  imbeciles  incapable  of  propagation. 

The  Connecticut  Colony  for  Epileptics  was  organized 
under  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1909,  which  made 
an  appropriation  of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  trustees 
appointed  by  the  governor  have  secured  a  farm  of  about 
three  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Mansfield,  Tolland  County. 
A  further  appropriation  of  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
thousand  dollars  has  made  it  possible  to  provide  accommoda- 


FHilantHropic  Institxitions  479 

tions  for  not  more  than  eighty  patients,  though  there  is  need 
of  more  room  for  the  victims  of  this  malady.  On  the  farm 
at  present  are  barn,  dairy  buildings  and  a  large  brick 
farmhouse.  The  trustees  desire  to  erect  four  buildings; 
eventually  it  will  be  necessary  to  provide  accommodations 
for  six  hundred  inmates,  and  the  applications  for  admission 
are  already  urgent. 

The  first  charitable  society  for  the  protection  of  minors 
was  the  Hartford  Female  Beneficent  Society,  which  was 
chartered  in  18 13.  The  managers  were  women,  who  re- 
ceived authority  to  take  girls  who  were  the  objects  of  charity, 
and  also  accept  the  surrender  of  girls  and  boys  from  parents 
or  guardians.  These  could  be  bound  out  in  "virtuous 
families"  until  eighteen,  except  when  married  before  reach- 
ing that  age.  In  1833-34,  orphan  asylums  were  incorpo- 
rated in  New  Haven,  Hartford,  and  Middletown,  and  a 
Female  Beneficent  Association  in  Fairfield. 

In  1863,  the  Hartford  Home  was  incorporated — a 
children's  institution  supported  by  the  city.  It  was  in- 
tended for  children  who  were  growing  up  in  idleness  and 
neglect  to  lives  of  immorality.  The  prime  mover  was 
Nathanael  H.  Morgan,  and  after  seven  years  it  ceased, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  it  had  no  farm,  and  because  there 
were  not  enough  boys  of  that  class  in  the  city  for  that 
vSchool  and  also  for  the  Watkinson  Farm  School,  which 
was  so  well  adapted  to  work  for  boys.  In  1865,  the  Hartford 
Orphan  Asylum  and  the  Hartford  Female  Beneficent  Society 
were  united  in  the  Hartford  Orphan  Asylum.  It  was 
authorized  to  enter  into  contracts  with  the  Watkinson 
School  in  order  to  carry  out  more  fully  the  objects  of  both 
institutions. 

The  Civil  War  increased  the  numbers  of  the  needy 
classes,  and  in  1864,  Fitch's  Home  for  the  Soldiers  in  Darien 
was  incorporated.  It  was  founded  by  Benjamin  Fitch  of 
that  town,  to  care  for  those  who  should  be  or  had  been 
soldiers,  and  to  educate  and  support  their  children.     Eighty- 


480  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

three  such  children  were  received  before  1871.  In  1868,  the 
state  granted  five  thousand  dollars  to  enlarge  and  repair  the 
buildings.  In  1864,  a  charter  was  voted  to  an  institution 
to  "provide  a  home,  support  and  education  for  the  orphan 
or  destitute  children  of  Connecticut  soldiers,  and  other  citi- 
zens of  the  state."  It  was  reported  that  there  were  "over 
four  hundred,  many  of  them  soldiers'  orphans,  in  the  town 
poorhouses  of  the  state."  In  October,  1866,  the  school  was 
opened  on  a  farm  in  Mansfield,  in  a  building  erected  by 
Edwin  Whitney  for  a  boys'  school,  and  given  by  him  for 
this  purpose.  The  school,  with  state  aid,  continued  its 
work  until  1875,  when  it  was  closed,  and  the  property 
returned  to  the  widow  and  daughter  of  the  donor,  having 
fulfilled  its  mission. 

In  1875,  there  was  no  public  provision  for  children,  who 
could  not  or  ought  not  remain  in  their  homes,  except  the 
almshouses  and  the  industrial  and  reform  schools,  which 
were  intended  for  incipient  criminals.  After  an  inquiry 
a  law  was  passed  in  1883,  that  after  January  i,  1884,  county 
homes  should  be  provided  for  these  children.  There  has 
been  erected,  as  the  result  of  this  law,  a  place  of  refuge  in 
every  county  for  children  between  the  ages  of  four  and 
eighteen,  who  are  "  waifs,  strays,  children  of  prisoners,  drunk- 
ards, paupers,  and  others  committed  to  hospitals,  almshouses, 
and  all  children  of  said  ages,  neglected,  deserted,  cruelly 
treated,  or  living  in  any  disorderly  house."  It  was  not 
to  be  used  as  a  "permanent  residence  for  any  child,  but 
for  its  temporary  protection,  for  so  long  a  time  as  shall  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  placing  of  the  child  in  a  well 
selected  family  home."  "No  child  demented,  idiotic,  or 
suffering  from  any  incurable  or  contagious  disease"  may  be 
committed  to  a  county  home.  Overseers  of  the  poor  are 
required  to  place  in  the  county  homes  all  children  between 
•  four  and  eighteen,  who  would  otherwise  be  in  the  almshouse. 
There  is  at  present  a  large  number  of  institutions  for 
children,  such  as  the  Hartford  Orphan  Asylum,  with  accom- 


PKilantHropic  Institutions  4B1 

modations  for  one  hundred  and  forty  boys  and  girls,  chartered 
in  1833,  and  well  housed  on  Putnam  Street,  for  neglected 
children  in  Hartford;  the  Watkinson  Farm  School,  estab- 
lished in  1884,  a  homelike  school  northwest  of  Hartford  for 
boys  of  twelve  and  upwards  who  are  in  danger  of  falling  into 
vice.  This  school  was  provided  for  in  the  will  of  David 
Watkinson  of  Hartford,  and  incorporated  in  1862.  Its 
purpose  is  to  give  relief,  protection,  instruction,  and  employ- 
ment to  minors  of  six  years  or  over,  who  are  falling  into 
"idle,  vagrant  and  vicious  courses."  Boys  attend  from  all 
parts  of  the]  state ;  instruction  is  given  in  English  studies, 
also  in  carpentry,  cabinet-work,  drawing,  horticulture, 
and  similar  branches.  The  Home  for  Incurable  Children 
was  established  by  the  Connecticut  Children's  Aid  Society 
in  1898,  and  is  situated  in  Newington  on  a  farm  of  fifty-five 
acres.  Nearly  one  hundred  crippled,  tuberculous,  deformed 
children  and  others  suffering  from  chronic  ailments  are 
cared  for  in  comfortable  and  pleasant  houses,  which  con- 
tain two  schoolrooms  and  a  room  for  instruction  in  man- 
ual training.  There  is  a  cottage  for  contagious  cases.  All 
who  are  teachable  attend  school,  and  those  who  are  able 
assist  in  the  housework  and  in  the  care  of  the  garden.  The 
Children's  Aid  Society  also  provides  a  boarding  home  for 
twenty  to  twenty-five  dependent  children  in  the  Prosser 
Farm  Cottage  in  Bloomfield.  These  are  wards  of  the  soci- 
ety by  reason  of  dependence  or  neglect,  and  after  being 
placed  in  homes  are  in  the  care  of  the  visiting  committee. 

The  Children's  Home  in  New  Britain  was  organized  in 
1903,  and  about  one  hundred  children  between  the  ages  of 
two  and  twelve  years  are  received  and  trained  under  decided 
Christian  influences.  The  home  depends  for  support  on 
voluntary  contributions,  and  preparations  are  making  to- 
wards a  home  for  three  hundred  children.  The  New  Haven 
Orphan  Asylum  was  chartered  in  1833,  for  destitute  children 
of  New  Haven  under  ten  years,  and  there  are  accommoda- 
tions for  one  hundred  and  forty  children.   An  effort  is  made  to 


482  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

train  the  boys  and  girls  for  usefulness,  and  to  secure  homes 
for  them  at  the  age  of  twelve.  The  Mount  Carmel  Chil- 
dren's Home  was  opened  in  1896,  on  a  farm  of  sixteen  acres, 
for  children  of  Protestant  families  between  the  ages  of  four 
and  twelve  years,  though  younger  children  may  be  received, 
and  about  forty  boys  and  girls  can  be  cared  for.  The  home 
is  largely  vSupported  by  voluntary  contributions,  though  the 
board  of  every  child  is  paid  as  far  as  possible  by  its  friends 
at  the  rate  of  two  dollars  a  week.  The  Curtis  Home  at 
Meriden  has  accommodations  for  thirty  children  of  that 
city,  who  are  orphans  and  destitute,  and  are  between  the 
ages  of  two  and  ten  years.  Everything  that  can  promote 
their  well-being  is  furnished  without  charge,  and  the  boys  and 
girls  are  expected  to  attend  the  Episcopal  Church.  The 
Rock  Nook  Home  of  Norwich  was  established  in  1882,  by 
the  United  Workers'  Society,  and  it  receives  children  under 
twelve  years  to  the  number  of  thirty.  This  pleasant  place 
is  of  the  nature  of  a  family,  and  supervision  is  maintained 
over  those  placed  in  homes  until  they  are  twenty-one.  The 
Bridgeport  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum  was  established  in 
1868,  in  the  Black  Rock  district,  and  it  cares  for  seventy 
children.  It  is  supported  by  private  charity,  though  rela- 
tives pay  fifty  cents  a  week  for  each  child  if  they  are  able. 
The  Danbury  Home  for  destitute  children  can  accom- 
modate fifteen  and  gives  the  preference  to  the  boys  and 
girls  of  Danbury;  when  others  are  received,  two  dollars 
a  week  is  paid.  The  Children's  Home  in  Stamford  was  first 
opened  in  1895,  for  boys  and  girls,  but  in  1910,  it  was  devoted 
to  boys  alone  from  four  to  fourteen  years  old;  there  is 
room  for  twenty-one  inmates,  who  enjoy  the  life  of  a  family, 
and  attend  either  Catholic  or  Protestant  churches.  Friends 
who  are  able  to  do  so  pay  from  one  to  two  dollars  a  week. 
The  St.  John's  Church  House  in  Stamford  cares  for  girls, 
and  can  receive  fourteen.  The  Gilbert  Home  at  Winsted 
is  finely  situated  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres,  and  can  accommodate  two  hundred  and  fifty  children. 


W    w 


Xi    ^ 


ji     -c 


PHilantHropic  Institutions  483 

It  was  liberally  endowed  by  W.  S.  Gilbert,  has  five 
schoolrooms  and  appliances  for  manual  and  industrial  train- 
ing. Children  are  received  to  board  at  one  dollar  a  week 
from  any  part  of  the  state,  and  nearly  a  hundred  wards  of 
the  Litchfield  County  Home  are  there.  There  is  an 
orphanage  in  Cromwell,  which  was  opened  in  1900,  for 
Swedish  children  between  three  and  twelve  years,  with 
accommodations  for  sixty-five  boys  and  girls.  The  price  for 
those  who  can  pay  is  two  dollars  a  week.  The  St.  John's 
Industrial  School  at  Deep  River  was  dedicated  by  Bishop 
Tierney  in  1908,  and  can  accommodate  more  than  one  hun- 
dred boys.  The  customary  ages  are  from  eight  to  sixteen 
years.  The  St.  Francis  Orphan  Asylum,  New  Haven,  cares 
for  destitute  children  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  and  can 
accommodate  five  hundred  boys  and  girls.  Children  under 
two  are  not  received,  and  the  usual  charge  is  one  hundred 
dollars  a  year  for  every  child.  About  half  of  the  inmates  are 
from  county  homes.  St.  James's  Asylum,  Hartford,  is 
devoted  mainly  to  the  care  of  children  of  the  parish  with 
which  it  is  connected.  There  are  also  county  temporary 
homes  in  the  eight  counties  of  the  state,  to  which  upwards 
of  three  hundred  children  are  committed  every  year.  Each 
home  is  under  the  charge  of  the  three  County  Commissioners, 
a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and  a  member  of  the 
State  Board  of  Charities.  Excellent  results  appear  in 
school  work,  including  industrial  and  manual  training,  and 
care  is  exercised  in  securing  homes  for  the  children,  through 
town  committees.  Not  only  is  provision  made  for  children, 
but  there  are  nineteen  homes  for  old  people,  widows,  and 
friendless;  four  in  New  Haven,  five  in  Hartford,  and  others 
in  New  Britain,  Fair  Haven,  Meriden,  Waterbury,  New 
London,  Norwich,  Middletown,  Winsted  and  Bridgeport. 

The  state  makes  large  appropriations  to  hospitals,  of 
which  there  are  twenty-three  general  and  eight  for 
special  diseases.  One  of  the  finest  in  the  state  is  the 
Waterbury  Hospital,  completed  by  private  benevolence  at  a 


484  A  History  of  Coxinecticxit 

cost  of  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Begin- 
ning with  1909,  there  has  been  a  crusade  against  tuberculosis, 
and  there  are  homes  for  the  treatment  of  persons  suffering 
from  this  disease  in  Meriden,  Shelton,  Hartford,  Norwich, 
and  Wallingford.  Tuberculin  is  used  in  certain  cases,  but 
the  staple  dependence  for  the  cure  of  patients  is  a  combina- 
tion of  rest,  open  air,  and  nourishing  food.  There  are  also 
institutions  for  nervous  invalids  at  Cromwell  and  Greenwich ; 
the  Sheltering  Arms  Hospital  at  Norwich  is  for  patients 
needing  homelike  care.  Besides  these  there  are  eleven 
private  sanitaria  for  the  treatment  of  mental  or  nervous 
diseases.  About  one-half  of  the  patients  in  these  institu- 
tions are  there  because  of  the  use  of  alcohol  or  drugs. 

Our  narrative  of  the  work  of  Connecticut  in  philanthropy 
were  not  complete  without  the  name  of  William  Watson,  who 
in  1828,  was  profoundly  moved  by  an  address  by  William 
Ladd,  on  universal  peace.  It  was  evidently  this  address 
that  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Hartford  County  Peace 
Society,  the  prime  mover  and  general  agent  of  which  was 
William  Watson,  whose  store  on  Main  Street,  Hartford, 
became  a  repository  of  tracts  and  pamphlets  relative  to  the 
peace  movement.  He  took  long  trips  through  the  state, 
made  addresses,  organized  societies,  and  did  everything  in 
his  power  to  awaken  an  interest  in  peace.  In  1834,  Watson 
began  on  his  own  responsibility  the  publication  of  the 
American  Advocate  of  Peace,  which  was  so  well  conducted 
that  the  national  society  adopted  it  as  its  organ.  Some  of 
the  ablest  men  in  Hartford  were  associated  with  Watson  in 
the  peace  movement. 

Few  other  men  have  had  a  wider  influence  in  philanthropy 
than  Elihu  Burritt,  who  was  born  in  New  Britain  in  18 10. 
With  the  scantiest  opportunity  in  the  public  school,  he 
carried  on  his  studies  while  making  tools  at  the  forge,  until 
he  had  become  accomplished  in  mathematics  and  at  length 
was  able  to  read  in  fifty  tongues.  For  twenty  years  he 
devoted  himself  to  Penny  Postage  across  the  ocean,  Arbitra- 


PHilantKropic  Institutions  485 

tion  and  the  Peace  Movement.  Mention  should  be  made  of 
long  and  tireless  labors  of  James  L.  Cowles  of  Farmington 
in  behalf  of  the  Parcels  Post,  an  endeavor  which  culminated 
in  1912,  in  the  adoption  of  this  boon, 

A  significant  fact  to  bear  in  mind  is  that  philanthropy 
is  a  development  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Poverty,  hard 
times,  heavy  taxation,  numerous  wars,  and  the  strain  of  new 
conditions  were  so  severe,  that  it  was  not  until  the  nineteenth 
century  was  well  started  that  people  began  to  look  around  in 
compassion  on  the  unfortunates  about  them,  and  ask  what 
could  be  done  for  the  insane,  blind,  deaf,  sick,  paupers,  and 
imbeciles.  In  the  past  hundred  years,  much  thought  and 
money  have  gone  into  philanthropic  institutions,  and  the 
work  has  just  begun. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 
TEMPERANCE  LEGISLATION 

THE  treatment  of  the  subjects  considered  in  the  three 
preceding  chapters  leads  to  an  accoiint  of  that  which 
is  a  prominent  cause  of  poverty,  crime  and  mental  disease, 
and  the  methods  employed  in  the  state  to  control  it.  Very 
early,  the  government  of  the  colony  was  compelled  to  face 
questions  occasioned  by  the  use  of  intoxicants,  and  it  is  re- 
corded that  in  1643,  many  complaints  had  been  made  of  the 
sale  of  "wyne  and  strong  water  in  vessels  on  the  River,  as 
in  several  howses — now  without  license."  In  1647,  a  bill 
passed  the  legislature  for  the  purpose  of  "preventing  that 
great  abuse,  which  is  creeping  in  by  excesses  in  Wyne  and 
strong  waters."  It  was  ordered  that  "noe  inhabitant  shall 
continue  in  any  comon  victualing  howse  in  the  same  towne 
where  he  liveth  above  half  an  hower  att  a  time  in  drinking 
wyne,  bear  or  hotte  water;  nor  any  one  that  selleth  shall 
suffer  more  than  three  to  a  pynt  of  sacke;  nor  deliver,  nor 
suffer  to  be  delivered  to  any  one  outside  the  howse,  unless 
they  bring  a  note, — nor  any  to  sell,  except  in  moderation." 
This  detailed  and  stringent  law  evidently  did  not  accomplish 
that  which  was  intended,  and  in  1654,  the  record  tells  us 
that  notwithstanding  previous  orders,  the  "greate  and  cry- 
ing sinne  of  Drunkenness  reigns  amongst  them,  to  the 
greate  dishonor  of  God,  and  the  hazard  of  the  lives  and  peace 
of  English  and  Indians."  In  view  of  this  it  was  declared  not 
lawful  to  "sell,  lend,  barter  or  give  to  any  Indian,  small  or 

486 


Xemperanice  Legislation  487 

greate"  any  strong  waters,  under  penalty  of  five  pounds  for 
a  pint,  and  twenty  shillings  for  the  least  quantity.  The 
license  that  was  issued  established  a  price  on  liquors;  no 
one  was  allowed  to  sell  for  above  five  shillings  a  quart. 

In  the  code  of  1650,  it  was  ordered  that  "no  licensed 
person  shall  sufer  any  to  be  drunken,  or  to  drinke  excessively, 
viz,  above  one-half  pint  of  wyne  for  one  person  at  one  time, 
or  continue  tipling  above  half  an  hour,  or  at  unseasonable 
times,  or  after  nine  at  night,  or  in  and  about  their  howse, " 
under  penalty  of  five  shillings.  A  person  found  drunk  was 
fined  ten  shillings;  for  continuing  tippling  above  half  an 
hour  the  penalty  was  two  shillings  sixpence;  for  drinking 
after  nine  in  the  evening,  five  shillings,  and  if  the  culprit 
could  not  pay  he  was  to  go  to  the  "stocks  for  one  houre  or 
more;  not  to  exceed  three  houres,  if  the  weather  permit." 
This  of  course  did  not  include  travelers,  who  were  to  be 
allowed  to  drink  all  they  cared  to  buy,  but  the  rulers 
saw  the  necessity  of  guarding  the  people  against  loafing 
about  public  houses,  and  also  from  perils  of  the  drink-habit. 
A  second  offense  called  for  a  double  fine  and  ten  strokes 
of  the  lash  for  "excessive  long  drinking,"  with  "three  houres 
in  the  stocks,  when  the  weather  does  not  hazzard  life  and 
limbs."  For  the  fourth  offense,  the  offender  was  to  be 
imprisoned  until  some  one  went  surety  for  him.  The  first 
mention  of  rum  was  in  an  art  passed  in  1654,  which  ordered 
that  none  should  "sell,  barter,  lend,  giue  or  otherwise,  under 
any  plea;  coller  or  pretence  whatsoever,  convey  to  any 
Indyan  or  Indyans,  small  or  greate,  any  strong  water  or 
liquors"  under  penalty  of  five  pounds  for  a  pint.  "It  is 
also  ordered,  that  whatsoever  Berbados  Liquors,  commonly 
called  Rum,  Kill-Deuill,  or  the  like,  shall  be  landed  in  any 
place  of  this  Jurisdictyon  "  should  be  confiscated.  Murray's 
Dictionary  says  that  in  1651,  this  liquor  was  made  in  Bar- 
bados from  sugar-cane  and  was  described  as  a  "hott,  hellish 
and  terrible  liquor, ' '  twice  as  strong  as  brandy.  It  was  ordered 
in  1699,  that  no  vintner,  ordinary  keeper  or  retailer  of  wine 


488  7\  History  of  Connecticvit 

or  strong  drink  should  sell  Madeira  wine  for  more  than  eight- 
pence  a  pint,  or  Fayal  wine  for  more  than  sixpence  a  pint, 
or  rum  for  more  than  twopence  a  gill,  or  cider  or  strong 
beer  for  more  than  twopence  a  quart,  under  penalty  of  a 
fine  of  ten  shillings;  one-half  to  go  to  the  complainer,  the 
other  half  to  the  coimty.  In  1703,  an  order  was  passed 
to  suppress  unlicensed  houses  selling  "beer,  ale,  cyder, 
perry,  metheglin  wine,  rum,"  and  other  liquors;  also  "har- 
boring and  enterteining  apprentices,  Indians,  negroes  or 
other  servants,  idle  and  dissolute  persons,  tending  to  the 
ruination  and  impoverishment  of  families,  and  all  vice, 
impieties  and  debaucheries."  On  second  conviction,  the 
culprit  was  to  be  whipped  as  many  strokes  as  the  judge  saw 
fit — between  ten  and  fifteen — and  committed  to  prison  until 
the  stripes  were  given,  or  fine  paid.  No  innkeeper,  retailer 
or  taverner  was  to  suffer  "men's  sons,  apprentices,  or 
negroes  to  sitt  drinking  in  his  or  her  house,  or  have  any 
manner  of  drinks  there  without  special  order  from  the 
master, "  under  penalty  of  a  fine  of  ten  shillings.  No  inhabi- 
tant was  to  be  allowed  to  "sitt  tipling"  for  more  than  an 
hour,  unless  he  was  a  traveler,  or  had  business,  under 
penalty  of  ten  shillings,  "one  moietie"  for  the  informer,  the 
other  to  the  poor  of  the  town. 

It  appears  that  a  good  deal  of  trouble  arose  from  the 
custom  of  letting  the  Indians  have  drink.  In  1669,  a  fine 
was  ordered,  "on  account  of  great  abuse  in  selling  Wyne, 
liquors  and  cyder  to  the  Indians."  In  1687,  the  General 
Court  ordered  that  "every  servant  or  slave,  male  or  female, 
that  shall  supply  any  Indian  with  any  sort  of  strong  drincke 
contrary  to  law,  they  shall  suffer  corporall  punishment  for 
the  same,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  offence, — unless 
the  master  shall  pay  the  fine."  In  May,  1676,  a  law  was 
enacted  requiring  selectmen  and  constables  "to  take  special 
care  and  notice  of  all  ...  persons  frequenting  public 
houses"  where  liquors  were  sold,  "and  spending  their 
precious  time  there,  and  thereupon  to  require  him  or  them  to 


Xemperance  Legislation  489 

forbear  such  places."  If,  after  the  warning,  they  were 
found  in  such  places,  they  were  to  forfeit  five  shillings  for 
every  conviction,  or  sit  in  the  stocks  for  an  hour.  Select- 
men and  constables  were  also  to  notify  keepers  of  such 
houses  of  entertainment  that  they  suffer  no  such  person  in 
their  houses,  upon  penalty  of  twenty  shillings  for  every  such 
defect.  The  fines  were  to  be  paid  to  the  county  treasury. 
This  was  a  license  law  to  be  paid  on  the  installment  plan. 
This  act  was  not  retained  in  the  revision  of  1702,  and  for 
over  one  hundred  years,  the  only  laws  against  intemperance 
as  a  cause  of  poverty  were  those  imposing  penalties  for 
drunkenness.  In  1694,  since  there  was  "excessive  great 
abuse  in  this  colony  by  those  who  presumptiously  retayle 
strong  drinke  or  liquers  unto  men  who  are  poore,  and  not 
able  to  pay,  without  great  prejudice  to  selves  and  famalyes, " 
it  was  enacted  that  whosoever  should  "sell  strong  drink 
under  the  quantity  of  an  ancher  in  any  plantations  without 
license,"  should  have  no  liberty  or  benefit  of  the  law  to 
recover  debts.  In  1695,  since  "excessive  drinking  in- 
creaseth"  through  multiplying  licensed  houses,  and  it  had 
become  the  occasion  of  the  growth  of  much  disorder,  a  law 
was  passed  fining  every  unlicensed  retailer  forty  shillings. 
All  licenses  were  called  in,  and  no  one  could  obtain  per- 
mission from  the  County  Court  to  sell  liquors,  unless  he  first 
received  liberty  from  the  town  where  he  proposed  to  open 
business.  In  17 12,  it  was  ordered  that  no  one  selling  liquors 
could  recover  at  law  for  drinks  sold. 

Evidently  the  legislation  did  little  good,  for  in  17 16,  it 
was  ordered  that  since  the  many  acts  to  prevent  unlicensed 
retailing  had  failed  to  reduce  the  evil,  a  fine  of  five  pounds 
was  to  be  the  penalty  for  the  first  offense,  ten  pounds 
for  the  second,  and  that  the  penalty  should  be  doubled  for 
every  succeeding  offense.  It  was  also  ordered  that  the  magis- 
trate should  post  at  the  door  of  every  tavern  the  names  of 
all  who  were  under  the  ban  because  of  their  dissolute  habits. 
In  1 7 19,  the  drink  evil  having  increased  to  such  an  extent 


49^  A  History  of  Connecticut 

that  there  was  a  "great  tendency  to  idleness  and  debauch- 
ery," since  "many  unfit  to  sell  imposed  on  the  County 
Courts,  and  public  houses  were  multiplied,"  and  many  were 
selling  without  license,  it  was  ordered  that  "the  civil  author- 
ity" in  January  of  every  year  should  nominate  a  person  to 
keep  and  sell  liquors,  sending  the  name  to  the  County  Court, 
which  should  license  him  and  no  other. 

In  1723,  a  fine  of  five  shillings  was  imposed  on  all  who 
sold  liquors  on  the  evening  after  the  Lord's  day.  About  the 
same  time  a  law  was  passed  against  smuggling  liquors  into 
the  colony.  In  1727,  a  penalty  of  three  shillings  a  gallon 
was  imposed  upon  all  who  distilled  rum  from  molasses; 
this  was  due  to  the  fear  of  shortage  of  molasses,  and  a  few 
years  later  it  was  repealed.  Despite  the  "ruination  and 
debauchery"  so  closely  connected  with  the  traffic  in  liquors, 
"upon  consideration  of  a  memorial  of  the  Reverend  Trustees 
of  Yale  College,"  the  General  Assembly  voted  in  1727,  to 
grant  the  "impost  income  for  Rhum  for  a  year,  to  be  for 
use,  benefit  and  support  of  the  College." 

In  1755,  the  liquor  problem  was  attacked  from  a  different 
angle,  and  it  was  voted  that  persons  who  were  licensed  were 
compelled  to  give  a  bond  that  they  would  not  sell  less  than  a 
quart  at  a  time,  or  suffer  any  to  drink  in  the  place  of  sale. 
It  was  also  ordered  that  no  unlicensed  dealer  could  sell 
less  than  thirty  gallons  to  one  person  at  a  time,  and  that  the 
licensed  retailer  should  pay  a  tax  of  fourpence  on  every 
gallon  sold.  Whether  or  not  it  was  believed  that  liquors 
would  give  nerve  to  the  army  we  do  not  know,  but  in  1777, 
the  Assembly  authorized  the  distillation  of  "  Geneva  or  other 
spirit  from  wheat,  rye  or  indian  corn  for  use  of  the  army  or 
the  inhabitants." 

In  1 82 1,  a  law  was  passed  which  empowered  any  two  of 
the  civil  authority  to  admonish  any  person  in  town,  who, 
they  believed,  was  in  danger  through  intemperance  of  being 
reduced  to  want,  or  was  not  caring  for  his  family,  and  to  for- 
bid all  liquor  dealers  to  sell  or  deliver  to  him  any  spirituous 


Temperance  Legislation  49^ 

liquors,  unless  on  a  written  license  from  them,  specifying 
the  quantity.  If  this  proved  ineffective,  it  was  their  duty 
to  have  his  name  posted  on  the  sign-posts  in  the  town  by 
a  signed  certificate,  forbidding  any  one  to  furnish  him 
with  liquor.  There  was  a  fine  of  seven  dollars  for  this 
offense,  and  if  the  offender  held  a  license,  the  civil 
authority  was  to  revoke  it.  This  law  dropped  out  in  the 
revision  of  1866,  and  in  the  revision  of  1875,  it  was  ordered 
that  any  one  could  complain  to  the  selectmen  that  his 
"father,  mother,  husband,  wife,  or  child"  was  "addicted 
to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,"  and  request  in  writing 
that  the  licensed  liquor  dealers  be  notified  not  to  furnish 
liquor  in  any  way  to  the  one  complained  of.  It  was  their 
duty  at  once  to  give  such  notice.  A  violation  of  the  notice 
meant  a  revocation  of  the  license.  For  selling  to  a  minor, 
to  an  intoxicated  person,  to  one  known  to  be  an  habitual 
drunkard,  or  to  a  husband  or  a  wife  against  a  notice  from  the 
other,  there  was  a  fine  of  not  less  than  twenty  dollars  or 
more  than  fifty  dollars. 

Efforts  were  making  for  the  institutional  treatment  of 
drunkards.  In  1868,  charters  were  granted  to  two  corpora- 
tions for  the  care  of  inebriates.  One  was  Turner's  Dipso- 
maniac Retreat,  to  be  located  at  Wilton,  Fairfield  County. 
Among  the  incorporators  of  the  other,  the  Connecticut 
Invalid  Home,  were  Leonard  Bacon,  Noah  Porter  and  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  In  1874,  ^he  Connecticut  Reformatory 
Home,  known  later  as  the  Asylum  at  Walnut  Hill,  was 
incorporated.  Persons  might  be  committed  who  were 
habitual  drunkards,  or  had  lost  their  self-control  by  the  use 
of  stimulants  or  narcotics.  The  Court  of  Probate  might 
investigate  their  cases  upon  the  application  of  the  majority 
of  the  selectmen  or  of  any  relative.  There  was  to  be  no 
commitment,  except  on  the  recommendation  under  oath  of  at 
least  two  practicing  physicians,  after  a  personal  examination. 
An  habitual  drunkard  might  be  committed  for  not  less  than 
four  or  more  than  twelve  months,  and  a  dipsomaniac  for  three 


492  j\  History  of  Connecticut 

years,  though  the  latter  might  go  at  large  after  one  year, 
under  counsel  of  the  manager.  Asylums  were  also  allowed 
to  receive  such  as  personally  applied,  and  the  estates  of 
patients  were  liable  for  their  support.  By  an  act  of  1887, 
selectmen  were  required,  at  least  as  often  as  every  six  months, 
to  prepare  a  list  of  persons  known  to  use  intoxicating 
liquors, — people  who  had  received  town  aid  within  the  pre- 
vious six  months,  and  lodge  a  copy  with  every  dealer, 
forbidding  the  delivery  of  any  liquor,  including  cider,  to 
such  persons,  except  upon  a  physician's  certificate. 

During  the  p&.st  hundred  years  the  temperance  question 
has  had  a  varying  fortune,  according  to  local  conditions  and 
passing  waves  of  interest.  In  1823,  the  law  of  an  earlier 
time  was  reaffirmed,  whereby  it  was  ordered  that  two  men 
in  civil  authority  could  post  a  man,  as  one  to  whom  no 
retailer  was  to  sell  liquors,  at  risk  of  having  his  license  re- 
voked. In  1838,  a  law  was  passed  that  no  one  who  was  not 
the  keeper  of  a  tavern  was  to  sell  liquors  to  drink  on  the 
premises.  In  1849,  a  law  was  passed  forbidding  the  sale  of 
liquors  to  minors;  tippling  was  also  treated  as  an  offense, 
which  cost  the  retailer  a  dollar  for  every  tippler  to  whom  he 
sold  liquor,  and  it  was  voted  that  only  licensed  places  of 
entertainment  should  be  allowed  to  sell  metheglin  or  mead, 
wine,  brandy  or  gin  to  drink  on  the  premises,  under  penalty 
of  twenty  dollars  for  the  first  offense,  and  double  for  every 
succeeding  violation ;  evidently  the  lawmakers  were  screwing 
their  consciences  to  the  sticking-point,  for  we  learn  that  in 
1854,  ^  l^w  was  passed  which  was  substantially  the  famous 
Maine  Law  transplanted.  According  to  this  law,  no  person 
was  allowed  to  manufacture  or  sell  any  spirituous  liquors, 
including  ale,  porter,  lager  beer,  cider  and  all  wines.  This 
did  not  prohibit  the  importation  of  liquors  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States.  The  penalty  was  twenty  dollars  for 
the  first  offense ;  thirty  for  the  second ;  one  hundred  dollars 
and  three  to  six  months  in  jail  for  the  third.  Every  one  who 
should  be  found  intoxicated  should  be  fined  seven  dollars. 


Temperance  Legislation  493 

Provision  was  made  for  a  town  agent,  appointed  by  the 
selectmen,  to  sell  liquors  for  "sacramental,  medicinal  and 
mechanical  uses  only."  During  the  first  years  of  the 
"Maine  Law"  in  Connecticut  the  enforcement  was  some- 
what strict,  and  in  1855,  the  Windham  County  jail  was 
said  to  be  without  a  tenant,  "and  was  advertized  to  rent," 
but  later,  after  the  excitements  of  the  Civil  War  became 
acute,  and  in  the  demoralizing  influences  following  the  war, 
the  law,  which  had  never  met  with  favor  in  the  cities,  passed 
into  such  disrepute  that  a  thoroughgoing  license  law  was 
passed. 

In  1872-74,  it  was  voted  by  the  Assembly  that  the 
county  commissioners,  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
selectmen,  were  to  give  license  to  "suitable  persons"  to 
sell  intoxicating  drinks,  and  to  pay  a  license  fee  of  from  one 
hundred  to  five  hundred  dollars.  Every  town  also  had  the 
privilege  of  voting  for  a  less  radical  prohibition  law.  It 
could  vote  to  sell  only  ale,  lager,  and  Rhine  wine,  and  the 
fee  was  fifty  dollars.  In  1882,  the  law  was  revised  to  re- 
quire endorsement  of  five  local  taxpayers,  and  five  hundred 
dollars  was  made  the  minimum  license  fee.  In  1893,  the 
law  was  changed  to  admit  of  an  appeal  from  the  commis- 
sioners to  the  Superior  Court.  The  principle  prevailing 
in  1 9 14,  is  the  Local  Option  law,  which  permits  towns  to 
have  what  they  choose:  prohibition,  or  saloons  licensed  by 
the  county  commissioners.  Half  of  the  towns  and  nearly 
all  of  the  cities  choose  the  licensed  saloon.  One  of  the 
most  valuable  and  hopeful  laws  recently  passed  is  that 
requiring  that  there  shall  be  temperance  instruction  in  the 
public  schools. 

As  the  laws  stand  in  19 14,  the  seller  of  intoxicating  liquor 
is  made  liable  to  one  whose  person  or  property  is  injured 
by  any  person  to  whom  such  sale  was  made,  and  who 
was  made  intoxicated  thereby,  and  committed  the  injury 
while  so  intoxicated.  A  husband,  wife,  parent,  child, 
guardian  or  employer  of  a  person  in  the  habit  of  drinking 


494  -A.  History  of  Connecticiat 

to  excess  may  notify  a  dealer  not  to  sell  or  deliver  liquor  to 
such  a  person,  or  allow  him  to  loiter  on  his  premises,  and 
any  violation  of  the  request  within  a  year  renders  the  dealer 
liable  to  damages.  Whenever  a  town  has  voted  against 
license,  a  delivery  within  the  town  is  deemed  a  sale.  Con- 
tracts, liens,  conveyances,  and  attachments,  any  part  of  the 
consideration  of  which  is  the  illegal  sale  of  liquors,  are  void. 
No  spirituous  liquors  shall  be  sold  or  given  away  in  any 
building  under  the  control  of  the  state.  No  one  can  sell 
liquors  at  an  agricultural  fair,  or  within  a  thousand  feet  of 
one.  Druggists  may  sell  liquors  upon  the  prescription  of  a 
physician,  but  not  to  drink  on  the  premises.  The  selectmen 
of  any  town  must,  at  least  semi-annually,  prepare  a  list  of 
persons  known  to  use  liquors,  to  whom  town  aid  has  been 
furnished  within  six  months,  and  lodge  such  a  list  with 
every  person  licensed  to  sell  liquors  in  the  town;  for- 
bidding the  sale,  gift,  or  delivery  of  liquors,  including  cider, 
to  such  persons,  except  on  prescription  of  a  physician. 
All  intoxicating  liquors,  intended  for  sale  contrary  to  law, 
are  declared  to  be  a  nuisance.  Any  justice  of  the  peace, 
or  any  court,  upon  the  sworn  complaint  of  a  prosecuting 
agent,  or  of  any  two  legal  voters  of  the  town,  alleging 
that  intoxicating  liquors  are  within  reasonable  certainty 
kept  within  any  place  contrary  to  law,  may  issue  a  search- 
warrant,  and  seize  such  liquor.  In  no-license  towns  the 
selectmen  must  appoint  agents  to  deal  in  liquors  for  sacra- 
mental, medicinal,  chemical  and  mechanical  uses  only,  and 
under  directions  given  in  writing.  A  licensed  person  who 
delivers  to  a  minor,  or  an  intoxicated  person,  or  a  husband 
or  wife,  to  whom  he  has  been  notified  not  to  sell,  or  to  an 
habitual  drunkard,  after  receiving  notice  from  the  select- 
men, or  allows  a  minor  to  loiter  about  the  premises,  is  liable 
to  a  fine  or  imprisonment.  The  hours  between  eleven  at 
night  and  five  in  the  morning  are  immime  from  the  sale  of 
liquors,  as  is  also  every  election  day,  except  to  guests  at  a 
hotel.     No  one  is  allowed  to  sell  liquors  between  twelve 


Temperance  Legislation  495 

Saturday  night  and  the  same  hour  Sunday  night.  No  prem- 
ises where  Hquors  are  sold  shall  be  obstructed  by  curtains 
or  screens.  Efforts  to  limit  still  further  the  saloons  in  both 
numbers  and  influence  have  accomplished  little,  especially 
in  the  larger  towns.  The  action  of  railroads  and  other  large 
corporations  in  refusing  to  employ  men  known  to  be  drinkers 
carries  weight,  and  many  organizations.  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  both  among  men  and  women,  have  been  influen- 
tial in  shaping  opinion,  andjn  giving  a  more  accurate  and 
widespread  knowledge  of  the  effects  of  intoxicants.  The 
public  schools  have  been  especially  effective  in  advancing 
a  cause  which  the  lawmakers,  almost  from  the  beginning, 
have  ingeniously  and  patiently  sought  to  promote. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 
LITERATURE 

A  ST  ATE  settled  by  people  of  such  intelligence  and  mental 
vigor  would  be  expected  to  develop  a  literature  of 
interest  and  variety,  and  such  is  the  case.  The  pioneers 
were  so  busy  getting  the  better  of  forests,  wolves  and  Indians 
that  they  had  little  time  for  anything  else  than  the  homely 
prose  of  daily  life,  and  the  early  writers  were  almost  entirely 
confined  to  ministers,  whose  robust  theology  and  vivid 
picturing  of  the  underworld  were  scarcely  surpassed  in 
eloquence  by  their  pictures  of  the  glories  of  heaven,  Jona- 
than Edwards,  who  was  born  in  South  Windsor  in  1703, 
might  have  excelled  in  literature  had  he  turned  his  powerful 
intellect  and  venturesome  imagination  to  lighter  subjects 
than  the  human  will,  the  glories  of  redemption  and  God's 
anger  toward  the  wayward.  For  evident  reasons,  the  young 
people  were  not  fed  from  earliest  years  on  Shakespeare,  and 
the  hymns  of  the  churches  were  apt  to  be  too  solemn  and 
doleful  to  awaken  the  muse  of  poetry  in  their  souls.  New 
Englanders  were  preeminently  practical,  and  their  minds 
were  apt  to  move  along  lines  similar  to  that  of  Sylvester 
Graham,  who  was  born  in  Suffield  in  1794.  He  wrote  the 
famous  Graham  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Human  Life,  and 
Bread  and  Bread-making,  associating  his  name  more  with 
unbolted  flour  than  with  literature. 

One  of  the  earliest  writers  was  Roger  Wolcott,  born  in 
Windsor,  1679,  who  took  part  in  the  campaign  of  171 1, 

496 


Literatxire  497 

against  Canada,  and  was  second  in  command,  leading  the 
Connecticut  contingent  in  the  expedition  which  captured 
Louisburg  in  1745.  He  published  in  1725,  Poetical  Medita- 
tions, being  the  Improvement  of  some  Vacant  Hours.  It 
was  issued  in  New  London,  and  he  dedicated  to  Timothy- 
Edwards  the  "broken  numbers,"   modestly  asking 

Whether  they  shall  be  kill'd  or  sav'd  alive. 

In  his  Meditations  on  Man's  First  or  Fallen  Estate  and  the 
Love  of  God,  we  have  the  following : 

Once  did  I  view  a  fragrant  Flower  fair, 
Till  through  the  optick  window  of  mine  eye, 
The  sweet  discovery  of  its  beauties  rare 
Did  much  affect  and  charm  my  fantasie, 
To  see  how  bright  and  sweetly  it  did  shine 
In  beauties  that  were  purely  genuine. 
This  flower  collects  the  "Nutrimental  juice," 
That's  of  the  earth  it  did  monopolize 
The  same  to  its  own  benefit  and  use, 
Also  the  benediction  of  the  skies. 

After  the  custom  of  his  time  he  caught  another  vision  which 
was  less  agreeable. 

I  see 
Hell's  flashes  folding  through  eternitie; 
And  hear  damned  Company  that  there  remain. 
For  very  Anguish  gnaw  their  Tongues  in  twain. 

He  also  published  an  epic  on  War  with  the  Pequots,  a 
fair  sample  of  which  we  find  in  the  lines : 

Here  we  are  strangers,  and  if  we  are  beat, 
We  have  no  Place  for  Safety  or  Retreat. 

The  poetry  of  the  time  was  largely  political.     Here  is  the 
first  of  a  dozen  stanzas  to  be  sung  to  a  familiar  hymn-tune, 
to  describe  a  Democratic  meeting: 
32 


49^  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

Ye  tribes  of  faction  join — 

Your  daughters  and  your  wives; 
Moll  Gary's  come  to  dine, 
And  dance  with  Deacon  Ives. 
Ye  ragged  throng 
Of  Democrats, 
As  thick  as  rats, 
Come  join  the  song. 

An  influential  element  in  the  life  of  Connecticut  after  the 
Revolution  was  the  group  of  nine  men  known  as  the  "Hart- 
ford Wits."  Though  independence  was  won,  anarchy 
threatened,  and  government,  commerce  and  finance  were 
unstable.  The  "Wits"  were  a  band  of  young  graduates 
of  Yale,  who,  while  connected  with  the  college  as  students 
for  the  master's  degree  or  tutors,  formed  a  school  for  the 
cultivation  of  letters,  and  did  much  to  liberalize  the  scholas- 
tic curriculum  of  Yale.  They  also  proposed  to  furnish  the 
young  republic  with  poetry  suitable  for  so  glorious  a  coimtry. 
A  few  years  later,  they  found  themselves  for  a  few  years 
together  in  Hartford  and  vicinity,  and  they  took  upon 
themselves  the  task  of  resisting  with  satire  the  influences 
which  were  working  toward  lawlessness. 

The  members  of  the  major  list  were  John  Trumbull, 
Timothy  D wight,  Joel  Barlow  and  David  Humphreys. 
The  associates  were  Theodore  D wight,  Richard  Alsop  and 
the  three  physicians,  Elihu  Smith,  Mason  Cogswell  and 
Lemuel  Hopkins.  These  were  able  men,  and  in  their 
number  we  find  a  judge  of  the  Connecticut  Supreme  Court, 
a  college  president,  foreign  ministers  and  ambassadors,  a  dis- 
tinguished physician  and  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  army. 
The  first  publication  of  the  Wits  was  a  group  of  twelve 
satiric  papers,  forming  the  Anarchiad.  These  were  published 
in  the  New  Haven  Gazette j  beginning  October  26,  1786,  and 
they  were  copied  into  other  Federalist  journals.  They  were 
first  issued  in  book  form  in  1861 .  The  papers  were  unsigned, 
but  Trumbull,  Humphreys,  Barlow  and  Hopkins  are  sup- 


Literatvire  499 

posed  to  be  the  authors,  who  wished  to  expose  the  folly  of 
the  warfare  waged  against  the  stability  of  the  nation  by 
the  promoters  of  local  rebellion,  paper  money  and  selfish 
greed.  Shays's  Rebellion  was  a  brilliant  example  of  anarchy, 
and  a  sample  of  the  verses  in  the  Anarchiad  follows: 

Thy  constitution,  chaos  is  restored. 

Law  sinks  before  thy  uncreating  word. 

Thy  hand  unbars  th'  unfathomed  gulf  of  fate, 

And  deep  in  darkness  whelms  the  new-born  State. 

The  Echo  was  a  continuation  of  the  Anarchiad,  and  was 
devoted  to  the  task  of  riddling  political  evils  and  exploit- 
ing the  perils  of  democracy.  It  also  caricatured  the  excesses 
of  literary  style  in  the  publications  of  the  time.  The  first 
Echo  appeared  August  8,  1791,  in  the  American  Mercury, 
and  was  a  parody  on  a  florid  account  in  a  Boston  paper  of  a 
heavy  rain. 

Uncorking  demi-johns,  and  pouring  down 

Heaven's  liquid  blessings  on  the  gasping  town. 

There  is  little  literary  merit  in  these  writings.  They  are 
largely  political  and  temporary,  yet  they  reflect  strong, 
unique,  earnest  personalities,  eager  to  bear  a  part  in  the 
development  of  an  upright  America.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  mutual  admiration  among  the  Wits,  and  occasional 
attacks  of  vanity,  speculation  and  vacillation.  Lemuel 
Hopkins  was  the  keenest  mind,  a  physician  who  depised 
quacks,  as  appears  from  a  poem  entitled  A  Patient  killed  by 
a  Cancer  Quack,  in  which  is  the  following: 

Here  lies  a  fool,  flat  on  his  back, 
The  victim  of  a  cancer  quack. 
Who  lost  his  money  and  his  life. 
By  plaister,  caustic  and  the  knife. 

Hopkins  had  a  similar  feeling  toward  another  class  as  ap- 
pears from  his  The  Hypocrite's  Hope: 


5QO  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

Two  tones  like  Pharisee  sublime, 
Two  lengthy  prayers  a  day, 
The  same  that  he  from  eariy  prime 
Hath  heard  his  father  say. 

Good  works  he  careth  naught  about, 
But  faith  alone  will  seek, 
While  Sunday's  pieties  blot  out 
The  knaveries  of  the  week. 

There  was  much  shrewd  insight  in  the  work  of  these 
men,  the  "Pleiades  of  Connecticut,"  as  they  were  called. 
They  mirror  the  aspirations  and  fears  of  thoughtful  peo- 
ple in  the  period  following  the  Revolution,  and  no  doubt 
they  had  some  influence  in  forming  public  opinion  while 
government  was  forming.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that 
while  "rhymed  politics  burdened  the  weekly  papers,"  and 
the  "muse  was  harnessed  to  the  political  chariot"  in  the 
Anarchiad  and  the  Echo,  three  epics  almost  as  long  as 
the  Iliad  appeared,  inspired  by  thoughts  of  a  state  where 

Great  Nature,  with  a  bolder  hand. 
Rolled  the  broad  stream  and  heaved  the  lifted  land. 

In  1785,  Timothy  Dwight  issued  The  Conquest  of  Canaan, 
an  epic  in  twelve  books,  which  is  read  as  often  as  his  five 
volumes  of  theology.  His  hymn,  "I  love  thy  Kingdom, 
Lord,"  will  never  grow  old,  but  his  war  song,  "Columbia, 
Columbia,  in  glory  arise,"  once  admired,  is  now  forgotten. 
Dwight  was  a  decided  force  in  the  commimity,  by  his  ser- 
mons, addresses  and  personal  influence  on  young  men,  and 
his  four  volumes  of  Travels  in  New  England  and  New  York 
are  full  of  valuable  observation  and  entertainment. 

Trumbull  was  the  satirist  of  the  company,  and  of  his 
masterpiece,  McFingal,  a  Modern  Epic,  we  read  that  "no 
American  poem  ever  had  such  immense  and  immediate 
popularity."  This  imitation  of  Hudibras  reflects  in  carica- 
ture the  stormy  town  meetings,  liberty  poles,  bonfires  and 


J 


Literature  501 

tar-and-feathering  of  Tories  of  those  turbulent  times.  It 
contains  a  few  keen  lines  usually  attributed  to  Hudibras, 
such  as; 

No  man  e'er  felt  the  halter  draw 

With  good  opinion  of  the  law. 

We  get  an  idea  of  the  sing-song  rhyme  so  popular  in  those 
days  from  the  following : 

When  Yankees,  skill'd  in  martial  rule, 
First  put  the  British  troops  to  School; 
Instructed  them  in  warlike  trade, 
And  new  manoevers  of  parade. 

The  grandest  endeavor  of  these  epic  poets  was  that  of  Joel 
Barlow,  a  versatile  man,  whose  most  ambitious  undertak- 
ing was  The  Vision  of  Columbus.  As  published  in  Hartford 
in  1787,  it  was  a  cheap  affair,  and  much  later  it  was  issued 
in  Philadelphia  in  a  sumptuous  edition.  This  was  the  most 
magnificent  work  ever  attempted  in  America  up  to  that 
time.  He  says  that  Hesper  appeared  to  Columbus  in  prison, 
and  led  him  to  a  hill,  whence  he  saw  America,  and  also  the 
unrolling  of  history.     The  opening  lines  are  as  follows: 

I  sing  the  mariner  who  first  unfurled 
An  eastern  banner  o'er  the  western  world, 
And  taught  mankind  where  future  empires  lay 
In  these  fair  confines  of  descending  day. 

He  saw  the  Connecticut  River: 

Thy  stream,  my  Hartford,  through  its  misty  robe, 
Played  in  the  sunbeams,  belting  far  the  globe. 

Speaking  of  towns  fired  by  the  British  he  sings: 

Norwalk  expands  the  blaze ;  o'er  Redding  hills 
High  flaming  Danbury  the  welkin  fills. 

Barlow's  best  poem  is  Hasty  Pudding,  one  couplet  of  which 
wears  well : 


502  A,  History  of  Connecticut 

E'en  in  thy  native  regions  how  I  blush 

To  hear  the  Pennsylvanians  call  thee  mush! 

Closely  connected  with  the  "Pleiades"  was  Dr.  Elihu  H. 
Smith  of  Wethersfield,  who  published  in  1783,  our  first 
poetic  miscellany,  entitled,  American  Poems ^  Original  and 
Selected. 

Another  writer  of  Connecticut  was  Jared  Sparks,  who 
was  born  at  Willington,  just  after  the  Revolution.  His 
Life  and  Writings  of  Washington  and  American  Biographies 
have  furnished  copious  accounts  of  eminent  men.  Fitz- 
Greene  Halleck,  who  was  born  in  Guilford  in  1790,  wrote  some 
of  the  best  poetry  of  his  time.  A  good  example  of  his  style 
is  the  poem  entitled  On  a  Portrait  of  Red  Jacket,  in  which 
he  praises  the  "monarch  mind": 

Thou  hast  it.     At  thy  bidding,  men  have  crowded 
The  road  to  death  as  to  a  festival. 

His  Marco  Bozzaris  has  thrilled  many  a  schoolboy  with  its 

Strike  till  the  last  armed  foe  expires. 

His  best  poems  are  Alnwick  Castle,  Burns,  and  the  verses 
on  the  death  of  his  friend  Drake,  opening  with  the  lines: 

Green  be  the  turf  above  thee, 

Friend  of  my  better  days; 

None  knew  thee  but  to  love  thee, 
None  named  thee  but  to  praise. 

There  was  born  in  Kensington  in  1795,  a  poet-geologist, 
James  G.  Percival,  who  was  about  equally  eminent  in  poetry, 
geology,  botany,  chemistry  and  mathematics.  Clio,  Pro- 
metheus and  The  Coral  Grotte  are  titles  of  three  of  the  poems 
of  this  eccentric  poet.  The  following  lines  from  the  opening 
of  The  Coral  Grove  may  suggest  the  flavor  of  this  poet : 


J4 


K 


O 


Literature  5^3 

Deep  in  the  wave  is  the  coral  grove, 

Where  the  purple  Mullet  and  Gold  fish  rove, 

Where  the  Sea-flower  spreads  its  leaves  of  blue, 

That  never  are  wet  with  falling  dew. 

But  in  bright  and  changeful  beauty  shine. 

Far  down  in  the  green  and  glassy  brine. 

A  classmate  of  Percival's  was  the  more  gifted  poet,  John 
G.  C.  Brainard,  who  was  born  in  New  London  and  lived 
for  years  in  Hartford,  where  he  edited  the  Mirror,  and  wrote 
many  poems,  until  his  gifted  career  was  cut  short  by  death. 
Some  of  these  poems  breathe  the  spirit  of  his  native  state, 
such  as  The  Black  Fox  of  Salmon  River,  The  Shad  Spirit, 
Fort  Griswold  and  The  Sea-Bird's  Song.  There  is  music 
in  the  lines : 

On  the  deep  is  the  mariner's  danger, 
On  the  deep  is  the  mariner's  death. 

The  dead  leaves  strew  the  forest  walk. 
And  withered  are  the  pale  wild  flowers; 
The  frost  hangs  blackening  on  the  stalk, 
The  dewdrops  fall  in  frozen  showers. 

The  works  of  Jedediah  Morse  in  geography,  Thomas 
Hubbard  and  Nathan  Daboll  in  arithmetic,  Noah  Webster 
in  the  speller  and  dictionary,  and  Jesse  Olney  in  atlas-geog- 
raphy have  been  described  in  the  chapter  on  Education.  In 
1827,  Frederick  Butler  of  Wethersfield  issued  a  compendium 
of  general  history,  the  first  work  of  the  kind  in  America. 

One  of  the  poet ;  of  the  anti-slavery  movement  was  John 
Pierpont,  who  was  born  in  Litchfield  in  1785.  A  lawyer,  a 
minister  and  a  business  man,  it  is  as  the  author  of  some 
vigorous  poetry  that  used  to  be  declaimed  b}''  schoolboys  that 
he  is  best  known  now.     Warren's  Address  at  Bunker  Hill, 

Stand!   the  ground  's  your  own,  my  braves! 
Will  ye  give  it  up  to  slaves? 


504  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

has  often  furnished  an  avenue  for  patriotic  eloquence.  Of  a 
different  type  was  Mrs.  Emma  Hart  Willard,  referred  to 
in  the  chapter  on  Education.  This  gifted  woman  was  the 
daughter  of  Samuel  Hart  of  Berlin,  where  she  was  born  in 
1787.  Her  literary  work  was  largely  in  school  books,  which 
were  widely  used  in  America  and  were  translated  into  many 
languages.  The  Woodridge  and  Willard  Geographies  and 
Atlases,  History  of  the  United  States  and  Astronomy  were 
once  poptilar.  She  was  the  author  of  many  poems,  of  which 
the  one  that  is  best  known  is  probably  **  Rocked  in  the 
cradle  of  the  deep. " 

There  was  born  in  Norwich  in  179 1,  a  writer  of  prose  and 
verse  of  decided  industry  and  copiousness,  Mrs.  Lydia  H. 
Sigourney,  who  produced  fifty-nine  volumes,  besides  many 
articles  for  magazines.  The  nature  of  her  works  is  sug- 
gested by  the  titles — Weeping  Willow,  Whispers  to  a  Bride 
and  Letters  to  Young  Ladies.  She  was  one  of  the  writers 
who  would  say  "parapet"  when  she  meant  "stone  wall," 
"couch"  for  "bed,"  "casement"  for  "window,"  "tome" 
for  "book,"  and  "sandal"  for  "shoe."  She  was  such  an 
expert  in  writing  obituaries,  that  there  were  those  who 
prayed  to  outlive  her.  In  1793,  Samuel  G.  Goodrich  was 
born  in  Ridgefield;  he  established  himself  in  Hartford  and 
later  in  Boston,  under  the  name  of  Peter  Parley,  and  issued 
a  large  number  of  instructive  and  entertaining  books  for 
the  young.  He  published  Merry's  Museum  and  Parley's 
Magazine,  besides  The  Outcast  and  Other  Poems  and  Recol- 
lections of  a  Lifetime. 

Although  many  of  the  Connecticut  peddlers  made  money 
by  their  enterprise  there  was  one  who  aid  something  else, 
and  this  was  Amos  Bronson  Alcott,  who  was  bom  in  Wolcott, 
in  1 799.  While  a  youth  he  was  sent  to  Virginia  with  a  trunk 
of  merchandise,  but  having  little  taste  for  trade,  he  sold 
his  goods  for  five  dollars,  and  in  1823,  opened  a  school  at 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  introducing  some  original  methods  of 
teaching  children.     In  1828,  he  started  a  similar  enterprise, 


Dr.  Horace  Bushnell  (1802-1876) 


Literatvire  505 

but  finding  himself  in  advance  of  his  times  he  settled  in 
Concord,  where  he  became  well  known  as  a  thinker  and 
lecturer,  in  daily  fellowship  with  Emerson,  Thoreau  and 
Hawthorne,  and  was  recognized  as  the  dean  of  the  Concord 
School  of  Philosophy.  Carlyle  described  him  as  "the  good 
Alcott,  with  his  long  lean  face  and  figure,  with  his  grave, 
worn  temples  and  mild,  radiant  eyes;  all  bent  on  saving  the 
world  by  a  return  to  acorns  and  the  golden  age."  Among 
his  published  works  are  Concord  Days,  New  Connecticut, 
Ralph  W.  Emerson  and  Sonnets  and  Canzonets.  Another 
Connecticut  man  who  reached  distinction  in  another  state 
was  George  D.  Prentice,  who  was  born  in  Preston  in  1802. 
In  1825,  he  became  editor  of  the  Connecticut  Mirror,  and 
three  years  later,  he  took  charge  of  the  New  England 
Weekly  Review.  In  1831,  Prentice  became  editor  of  the 
famous  Whig  newspaper,  the  Louisville  Journal,  and  soon 
he  was  widely  known  for  his  wit,  satire  and  political  ability. 
He  stood  fast  by  the  Union  cause  in  1861,  and  later  was 
connected  with  the  Courier- Journal.  Among  his  books  is  a 
Life  of  Henry  Clay.  One  of  the  most  influential  of  American 
writers  was  Horace  Bushnell,  who  was  born  in  Litchfield 
in  1802,  a  man  of  remarkable  insight  into  the  deep  truths 
of  religion,  and  as  seen  in  another  chapter,  he  holds  a  high 
place  among  the  original  and  constructive  thinkers  in  the- 
ology. So  felicitous  was  he  in  expression,  that  whatever 
subject  he  treated,  whether  it  was  New  England  customs  or 
the  personality  of  Christ,  it  became  a  thing  of  life.  In  1833, 
he  became  pastor  of  the  North  Church  of  Hartford,  an 
interpreter  of  God  and  the  world  of  singular  power  and 
inspiration,  a  writer  in  the  front  rank.  His  most  dis- 
tinguished works  are  Christian  Nurture,  Nature  and  the 
Supernatural,  God  in  Christ  and  Christ  in  Theology.  The 
next  author  to  come  into  view  is  the  gifted  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe,  born  in  Litchfield  in  181 1,  daughter  of  the  famous 
Lyman  Beecher,  a  powerful  preacher,  masterful  personality, 
and  pioneer  in  a  more  genial  theology.      Mrs.  Stowe,  while 


5o6  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

in  her  father's  home  in  Cincinnati,  obtained  such  a 
view  of  slavery  that  years  later  she  wrote  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin.  This  book  first  appeared  in  the  National  Era,  in 
Washington,  and  it  sprang  at  once  into  a  popularity 
unsurpassed  by  any  other  book  ever  published  in 
America.  It  has  been  translated  into  twenty  languages; 
published  in  thirteen  German,  four  French  and  fifty 
English  editions.  It  has  been  dramatized,  abridged, 
arranged  for  children,  and  was  a  powerful  means  of  pre- 
paring for  freeing  the  slaves.  Mrs.  Stowe  wrote  many 
other  works,  such  as  Old-town  Folks,  Minister's  Wooing 
and  Religious  Poems.  As  two  Southerners  went  out  of 
a  theater  in  New  York,  after  seeing  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin, 
one  said,  "Will,  that's  what  licked  us."  Another  of 
Lyman  Beecher's  children  was  Henry  Ward,  who  was 
born  in  Litchfield  in  1813,  became  one  of  the  most  powerful 
preachers  of  the  centuries,  and  a  lecturer  of  marvelous 
effectiveness.  His  five  great  addresses  in  England  in  1863, 
turned  the  tide  of  English  opinion  against  the  slave-power, 
and  produced  a  result  "unparalleled  in  modern  oratory." 
Most  of  his  writings  are  sermons,  but  so  genial,  so  natural, 
so  sympathetic  are  they;  so  rich  in  human  nature,  so 
fragrant  with  the  aroma  of  forest  and  meadow;  so  deep 
and  tender  in  their  unfoldings  of  the  love  of  God,  that 
they  stand  in  the  front  ranks  of  the  inspiring  works  of 
his  day. 

Though  bom  in  Providence,  in  1820,  the  name  of  Henry 
Howard  Brownell  belongs  in  Connecticut,  since  he  spent 
most  of  his  life  in  East  Hartford.  Brownell  had  unusual 
opportunities  to  be  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  Civil  War, 
for  Farragut,  impressed  by  his  General  Orders,  invited  him 
to  join  the  fleet  and  see  a  naval  battle.  He  was  appointed 
ensign  on  the  flagship  Hartford,  was  present  at  the  battle 
of  Mobile  Bay,  and  his  poem  Bay  Fight  is  the  result  of 
the  exciting  experience.  The  poem  breathes  the  thunder 
of  struggle: 


Harriet  Beecher  Stowe(  1811-1896) 


Literature  507 

"Man  your  starboard  battery!" 

Kimberly  shouted — 
The  ship  with  her  heart  of  oak 
Was  going  mid  roar  and  smoke 

On  to  victory. 
None  of  us  doubted, 
No,  not  our  dying — 
Farragut's  flag  was  flying. 

How  vividly  he  describes  the  battle! 

Trust  me,  our  berth  was  hot, 
Ah,  wickedly  well  they  shot, 
How  their  death-bolts  bowled  and  stung. 

Another  famous  poem  of  Brownell's  is  the  River  Fight,  and 
he  wrote  others,  some  of  which  are  lyrics  of  a  high  order. 
His  Words  that  can  be  Sung,  reminds  us  vividly  of  a 
famous  song  of  the  war: 

Old  John  Brown  lies  a  mouldering  in  the  grave, 
Old  John  Brown  lies  aslumbering  in  his  grave, 
But  John  Brown's  soul  is  marching  with  the  brave, 
His  soul  is  marching  on. 

Glory,  glory  Hallelujah. 

Holmes  calls  Brownell  our  "Battle  Laureate,"  and  says 
of  his  war  poems,  "They  are,  to  all  the  drawing  room  battle- 
poems,  as  the  torn  flags  of  our  victorious  armadas  to  the 
stately  ensigns  that  dressed  their  ships  in  the  harbor."  In 
the  same  class  was  Henry  Clay  Work,  who  was  born  in 
Middletown  in  1832,  and  had  some  fame  as  a  song- writer. 
His  Marching  through  Georgia,  composed  after  the  war. 
Kingdom  Coming,  Grandfather' s  Clock  and  Father,  dear 
Father,  Come  Home  with  me  Now  have  been  widely  sung. 
Donald  G.  Mitchell,  known  to  the  world  as  "Ik  Marvel," 
was  born  in  Norwich  in  1822,  graduated  at  Yale,  and 
spent  most  of  his  life  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  Haven. 


5o8  A.  History  of  Oonnecticxit 

Among  his  many  books,  fragrant  with  delicate  fancies,  love 
of  nature  and  cheerfulness,  are  My  Farm  of  Edgewood,  Rev- 
eries of  a  Bachelor  and  American  Lands  and  Letters.  Rose 
Terry  Cooke  was  born  in  West  Hartford  in  1827;  soon 
after  her  graduation  from  the  Hartford  Female  Seminary, 
she  began  to  publish  poems  and  sketches,  and  continued 
through  many  years  of  married  life,  until  she  became  a 
favorite  writer  through  New  England.  She  vividly  por- 
trayed the  plain  life  of  New  England,  and  Whit  tier  said 
that  in  her  dialect  stories  of  the  Yankees  she  had  no  equal. 
Happy  Dodd  and  The  Sphinx's  Children  are  among  her  books 
of  fiction. 

Theodore  Winthrop  was  born  in  New  Haven  in  1828, 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  occupied  himself  largely  with 
writing  novels  imtil  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  when  he 
enlisted  in  the  New  York  Seventh,  and  was  killed  at  Great 
Bethel.  After  his  death,  his  books,  among  the  first  to  deal 
with  western  themes,  were  published.  They  were  Cecil 
Dreeme,  John  Brent  and  Edwin  Brothertoft.  These  and 
some  sketches  have  been  popular. 

Charles  Dudley  Warner  was  born  in  Plainfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1829,  but  the  influence  he  exerted  in  Connecticut 
for  forty  years  leads  us  to  count  him  in  among  the  writers 
of  this  state.  For  years  he  was  editor  of  the  Hartford  Press 
and  the  Hartford  Courant,  and  in  these  papers,  as  well  as 
his  books,  the  fine  literary  quality,  humorous  and  cheerful 
note  have  given  this  gifted  author  a  high  place.  Among  his 
many  works  are  My  Summer  in  a  Garden,  Back-log  Studies, 
The  Golden  House,  and  in  collaboration  with  S.  L.  Clemens, 
The  Gilded  Age.  In  Windham  County,  between  1830,  and 
1840,  within  a  few  miles  of  one  another,  there  appeared  three 
women  whose  writings  have  been  a  joy  to  many:  Theron 
Brown,  born  in  Windham  in  1832;  Emily  Himtington  Miller, 
born  in  Brooklyn  in  1833,  and  Louise  C.  Moulton,  born  in 
Pomfret  in  1835.  The  songs  and  lyrics  of  the  last  named 
called  forth  from  Whittier  the  statement,  "It  seems  to  me 


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Charles  Dudley  Warner  (1829-1900) 

From  a  Photo  by  Horace  Bundy,  Hartford,  Conn. 


Literature  509 

the  sonnet  was  never  set  to  such  music,  and  never  weighted 
with  more  deep  and  tender  feeling." 

The  poet-banker,  Edmund  C.  Stedman,  was  born  in 
Hartford  in  1833.  His  seat  in  the  New  York  vStock  Ex- 
change and  activity  as  a  broker  until  1900,  did  not  prevent 
his  writing  poetry  of  a  high  order.  Some  of  his  ballads  are 
of  decided  value,  and  many  of  his  lyrics  are  beautiful. 
After  the  death  of  Holmes,  he  occupied  the  leading  place 
among  the  poets  of  his  time.  His  writings  in  literary 
criticism  are  scholarly  and  valuable.  Samuel  L.  Clemens 
(Mark  Twain)  was  thirty-six  years  old  when,  in  1871,  he 
made  Hartford  his  home.  The  qualities  which  have  given 
him  a  wide  popularity  are  humor,  satire  and  a  matter-of- 
fact  seriousness,  together  with  sympathy  with  plain  people. 
Prominent  among  his  works  are  Adventures  of  Tom  Sawyer, 
A  Connecticut  Yankee  in  King  Arthur's  Court,  Joan  of  Arc 
and  Innocents  Abroad.  Clemens  was  a  vital  force  in 
the  literary  life  of  Connecticut,  not  only  by  his  writings, 
but  also  by  his  striking  personality  and  picturesque  gifts 
as  a  lecturer.      His  work  endures. 

Mention  should  be  made  of  Edward  Rowland  Sill,  a 
man  of  much  ability  and  poetic  taste,  who  was  born  in 
Windsor  in  1841.  His  lyrics  are  melodious  and  his  prose 
works  reveal  a  vigorous  grasp  and  a  deep  insight.  Sill  was 
a  man  peculiarly  sensitive  to  the  willfulness  of  fortune — 
the  disappointments  and  misunderstandings  which  he  met. 
The  FooVs  Prayer  is  a  sample  of  the  keen  thought  of  this 
gifted  mind.     We  catch  the  movement  in  the  lines : 

The  ill-timed  truth  we  might  have  kept — 
Who  knows  how  sharp  it  pierced  and  stung? 

The  word  we  had  not  sense  to  say — 
Who  knows  how  grandly  it  had  rung? 

John  Fiske  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1842,  became 
a  lecturer  on  philosophy  at  Harvard,  and  a  prolific  writer 


510  A  History  of  Connectic\it 

on  history  and  philosophy.  He  was  a  writer  of  signal 
industry,  clearness  and  skill,  and  was  able  to  group  facts 
and  marshal  events  with  remarkable  success.  He  did  much 
to  interpret  American  history,  and  also  to  illuminate  and 
popularize  the  theory  of  evolution.  Some  of  the  dis- 
tinguished scholars  to  whom  reference  has  been  made  in 
the  chapter  on  Colleges  deserve  a  place  in  the  literary  history 
of  the  state.  One  of  the  earliest  of  these  was  Benjamin 
Silliman,  who  was  born  in  Trumbull  in  1779,  and  became 
eminent  as  discoverer,  lecturer  and  writer  in  natural  science; 
he  established  the  American  Journal  of  Science,  and  for 
twenty  years  was  its  chief  editor.  His  son,  Benjamin  Silli- 
man, Jr.,  was  born  in  New  Haven  in  18 16,  and  was  also 
editor  of  the  same  journal,  and  author  of  works  on  chemistry 
and  physics.  Moses  Stuart  was  born  in  Wilton  in  1780, 
and  became  a  distinguished  scholar  and  writer  in  the  field 
of  the  Hebrew  language  and  literature;  he  was  the  first  to 
introduce  German  methods  of  scholarship  into  this  country. 
There  was  born  in  Southington  in  1794,  Edward  Robin- 
son, destined  to  become  distinguished  as  teacher  and  author. 
His  works  on  New  Testament  Greek,  including  lexicon, 
grammar  and  harmony,  are  of  the  finest  scholarship.  His 
Biblical  Researches  did  most  to  give  him  an  enduring  fame, 
not  only  because  of  their  accuracy  and  fullness,  but  also 
because  the  first  real  impulse  toward  the  scientific  exami- 
nation of  the  Holy  Land  was  due  to  him.  James  Dwight 
Dana  was  born  in  Uticain  18 13,  and  was  so  vitally  connected 
with  the  scientific  life  of  Connecticut  that  we  cannot  fail 
to  mention  the  fact  that  he  was  editor  of  the  American 
Journal  of  Science,  and  author  of  many  works  on  mineralogy 
and  geology.  Thomas  R.  Pynchon  was  born  in  New  Haven 
in  1823,  and  became  distinguished  in  chemistry,  publishing 
a  treatise  in  that  branch  of  science.  William  Dwight 
Whitney  was  bom  in  Northampton  in  1827,  and  studied  Sans- 
krit at  Yale  with  Professor  Salisbury,  whom  he  succeeded  in 
1854.      His  works  in  Sanskrit  and  comparative  philology 


Samuel  L.  Clemens  ^Mark  Twain)  (1835-1910) 

From  a  Portrait  taken  in  1880.      (Courtesy  of   Messrs.  Harper  &  Brother) 


Literature  511 

are  many  and  very  able.  James  Hadley  was  born  in  Fair- 
field, New  York,  in  182 1,  and  during  his  long  service  at 
Yale  he  was  the  author  of  works  of  learning  on  the  Greek 
and  English  languages.  Theodore  D.  Woolsey  was  born  in 
New  York  in  1801,  and  while  connected  with  the  Yale 
faculty  as  professor  and  president,  he  published  many  works, 
which  range  from  Greek  literature  to  international  law  and 
political  ethics.  Professor  Othniel  C.  Marsh,  for  more  than 
thirty  years  connected  with  the  Yale  faculty,  has  published 
many  works  on  palaeontology,  which  are  of  the  highest  value. 
Parallel  with  him  was  Professor  William  G.  Sumner, 
whose  superb  work  in  the  class  room  was  matched  by  such 
works  as  the  History  of  American  Currency  and  History  oj 
American  Banking. 

As  we  have  noticed  elsewhere,  Connecticut  has  always 
been  strong  in  theology.  There  have  been  many  eminent 
men  who  were  born  in  this  colony  and  state,  and  others  came 
hither.  Some  of  these  writers  are  regarded  now  with  rather 
less  interest  than  the  skeleton  of  a  mastodon  in  the  Pea- 
body  Museum,  while  others  wrought  with  genius  and  power. 
There  were  Hopkins,  Edwards,  Bellamy,  Emmons,  Dwight 
and  West,  most  distinguished  of  whom  was  Samuel  Hopkins, 
who  was  born  in  Waterbury  in  1 72 1 ,  becoming  a  profound 
thinker  and  powerful  writer,  though  his  style  was  not  happy. 
He  is  remembered  for  his  theological  system,  called  the  "  Hop- 
kinsian,  "  a  very  stern  system,  and  also  for  advanced  and 
benevolent  views  on  the  subject  of  African  slavery.  Newport, 
where  he  preached,  was  the  principal  slave-mart  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  the  course  taken  by  the  independent  minister 
brought  upon  him  persecution.  In  1766,  he  published  his 
noted  Dialogue  concerning  the  Slavery  of  the  Africans  together 
with  his  Address  to  Slaveholders.  He  also  published  numer- 
ous essays  against  slavery  in  the  newspapers  of  Newport, 
Providence,  Boston  and  Hartford.  Jonathan  Edwards,  the 
younger,  was  a  son  of  the  great  minister  of  Northampton, 
where  he  was  born  in  1745.     He  received  his  training  with 


512  A  History  of  Connecticut 

Joseph  Bellamy  of  Bethlehem  and  for  twenty-six  years 
was  pastor  in  New  Haven.  His  theological  writings  are 
marked  by  acuteness  of  mind  and  precision  of  style, — found- 
ation stones  in  the  famous  "New  England  Theology."  He 
is  remembered  also  as  the  author  of  a  work  which  he  pub- 
lished in  1788,  which  established  his  fame  as  a  philologist. 
The  work  is  entitled  Observations  on  the  Language  of  the  Muh- 
hekaneew  Indians,  in  which  the  Extent  of  that  Language  in  North 
America  is  Shown.  When  he  was  a  boy  in  Stockbridge,  the 
Indians  were  his  nearest  neighbors,  and  their  language 
became  as  familiar  as  the  English;  even  his  thoughts  ran 
in  Indian.  This  work  on  the  Indian  language  was  recognized 
in  Europe  as  of  highest  value  for  accuracy  and  compre- 
hensiveness, since  he  had  an  unparalleled  knowledge  of  the 
grammatical  and  other  learning  which  qualified  him  to 
reduce  an  unwritten  language  to  the  rules  of  grammar. 
Timothy  Dwight,  the  author  of  poems  noticed  earlier  in 
this  chapter,  published  in  1822,  four  volumes  of  Travels  in 
New  England,  which  form  a  rich  storehouse  of  knowledge 
upon  the  customs  and  life  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  His  sermons  published  in  1818,  under  the  title 
of  Theology  Explained  and  Defended,  attained  great  popu- 
larity in  this  country  and  England.  A  worthy  successor  of 
Dwight  was  Nathanael  W.  Taylor,  who  was  born  in  New 
Milford  in  1786,  and  as  a  thinker  and  author  in  the  New 
Haven  Theology  he  had  a  powerful  influence.  This  name 
calls  to  mind  that  of  Bennet  Tyler,  who  was  born  in  Middle- 
bury  in  1783,  and  as  the  first  president  of  what  is  now  the 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  and  as  a  defender  of  the 
older  Calvinism,  as  opposed  to  Tyler  at  Yale,  he  was  long  a 
positive  force  in  the  thought  of  the  day. 

Connecticut  has  also  been  influential  in  legal  writings, 
and  the  first  to  be  mentioned  is  Tapping  Reeve,  who  es- 
tablished his  famous  law  school  in  Litchfield  in  1784,  whose 
writings  relate  to  laws  of  property  of  married  women,  also 
of  parent  and  child,  guardian  and  servant  and  descents. 


Literatvire  513 

The  Field  family  is  famous  for  legal  authorship.  The  father 
of  the  ten  children,  so  many  of  whom  are  widely  known,  was 
the  Rev.  David  Dudley  Field,  who  was  born  in  North  Guilford, 
and  the  sons,  David  Dudley  and  Steven  Johnson,  were  born 
in  Haddam.  David  Dudley  Field,  Jr.,  gave  his  life  to  the  re- 
form of  law,  for  which,  according  to  Lord  Cairns,  Chancellor 
of  England,  he  did  "more  than  any  man  living."  After  pub- 
lishing his  Codes  of  Civil  and  Criminal  Procedure  in  1850,  he 
went  on  to  prepare  a  political,  civil  and  criminal  code  to  cover 
all  American  law.  He  rewrote  the  code  of  New  York  eighteen 
times.  His  System  of  Practice  was  adopted  in  the  courts  of 
India,  Singapore  and  Hong  Kong.  He  proposed  in  1866,  a 
committee  of  jurists  to  prepare  an  international  code,  which 
was  translated  into  French,  Italian  and  Chinese. 

There  has  been  much  valuable  work  done  in  history  and 
the  historical  collections  of  colony,  state,  colleges,  counties 
and  towns  are  of  the  most  decided  value.  The  Connecticut 
Historical  Society  was  organized  in  1825,  largely  through  the 
inspiration  of  the  famous  educator,  Henry  Barnard.  In 
1843,  it  took  possession  of  its  rooms  in  the  Atheneum,  which 
was  built  through  the  liberality  of  Daniel  Wadsworth.  At  the 
death  of  David  Watkinson  in  1857,  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  came  from  his  estate  for  the  Watkinson  Library,  which 
was  opened  in  1866,  in  an  addition  to  the  Atheneum.  The 
presiding  genius  of  the  Historical  Society,  as  well  as  of  the 
Watkinson  Library  for  many  years,  was  J.  Hammond  Trum- 
bull, who  was  born  in  Stonington  in  1 82 1 .  He  had  a  wide  and 
accurate  knowledge,  and  was  a  scholarly  writer.  Another 
distinguished  name  in  the  literary  history  of  the  state  is  that 
of  C.  J.  Hoadly,  who  for  years  was  librarian  of  the  State 
Library,  which  is  now  fittingly  housed  in  a  noble  structure 
on  Capitol  Hill.  Trumbull  and  Hoadly  did  invaluable  ser- 
vice in  putting  in  order  and  publishing  the  records  of  Con- 
necticut, and  their  successors  are  ably  continuing  their  work 
in  making  permanent  and  available  priceless  material  con- 
cerning the  notable  personages  and  events  of  the  past. 
33 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 
ART 

IN  view  of  the  characteristics  of  the  pioneers  settling 
Connecticut,  the  motives  bringing  them  hither,  and  the 
practical  bent  which  has  been  so  conspicuous  in  the  history, 
one  is  not  prepared  for  any  brilliant  flowering  of  artistic 
genius,  since  we  do  not  usually  associate  wariness,  homely 
common  sense,  political  shrewdness,  sharp  business  capacity 
and  industrial  inventiveness  with  interest  in  the  fine  arts, 
but  there  have  been  creditable  development  and  acknowl- 
edged skill  with  canvas,  marble  and  bronze.  "Connecticut 
is  not  Athens"  was  the  famous  reply  of  Governor  Trumbull 
to  the  yearning  of  his  son  John  for  art,  yet  this  state  was  the 
pioneer  in  the  original  art  of  America,  and  she  produced 
the  first,  and  for  years  almost  all  of  the  standard  historical 
works;  having  more  artists  of  acknowledged  skill  than  any 
other  state,  and  the  first  academic  art  school  in  the  country. 
One's  astonishment  at  this  is  lessened  when  he  considers  the 
wealth  of  natural  beauty  within  the  commonwealth,  a  beauty 
which  calls  together  more  painters  of  national  reputation 
than  any  other  section  of  America. 

The  rise  of  art  is  traced  to  the  coming  of  Dean  Berkeley 
in  1728,  bringing  with  him  John  Smybert,  a  painter.  Smy- 
bert  was  not  a  genius,  but  he  was  a  well  educated  artist 
who  had  studied  Van  Dyck,  and  came  to  America  with  that 
master's  spirit.  It  was  an  inspiration  to  the  colony  to  have 
such   a  picture  brought   here    as    The    Berkeley    Family  ^ 

514 


Art  515 

which  is  now  in  the  Yale  Art  Gallery.  After  spending 
several  years  in  Boston,  Smybert  died  near  the  threshold 
of  his  career.  We  know  little  of  the  life  of  J.  B.  Blackburn, 
but  he  was  a  very  important  figure  in  the  development  of 
American  portrait  painting — leading  directly  to  Copley,  the 
greatest  of  the  Colonial  painters.  One  tradition  is  that 
Blackburn  was  a  son  of  J.  B.  Blackburn  of  Wethersfield, 
and  was  born  about  the  year  1700.  He  passed  from  view 
about  1760,  and  is  regarded  by  competent  judges  as  the 
first  native-born  artist  of  America.  One  of  his  paintings 
is  a  large  canvas  of  Governor  Saltonstall's  family,  finely 
painted  with  grace  and  power.  W.  H.  Whitmore  says  of 
Blackburn,  "  In  his  day  as  an  artist,  he  was  second  only  to 
Copley."  He  was  a  teacher  of  Copley,  and  most  of  his  work 
was  done  in  Boston,  where  thirty  of  his  portraits  are  owned. 
The  name  of  Ralph  Earl  stands  among  those  of  the  pioneers 
of  art  in  Connecticut.  Earl  was  born  in  Lebanon  about 
1 75 1,  and  twenty  years  later,  he  was  painting  miniatures 
in  many  parts  of  the  colony.  When  twenty-five  years 
old  he  had  an  opportunity  to  go  abroad,  where  he  remained 
twelve  years,  studying  under  Benjamin  West.  He  ob- 
tained permission  to  paint  a  portrait  of  George  IH.  His 
principal  work  after  his  return  to  Connecticut  is  a  series 
of  four  large  paintings,  made  while  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Governor's  Foot  Guard.  They  are  the  first  historical  paint- 
ings executed  by  a  native  artist.  He  also  painted  Niagara 
Falls,  and  portraits  of  Colonel  George  Wyllys,  Judge  Ells- 
worth, Colonel  Talcott,  and  the  best  portrait  in  existence  of 
Roger  Sherman. 

The  name  Trumbull,  so  eminent  and  beloved  in  Con- 
necticut, stands  in  the  first  class  among  the  early  artists, 
in  the  person  of  John  Trumbull,  son  of  Governor  Jonathan 
Trumbull.  He  was  born  in  Lebanon,  June  6,  1756.  After 
graduating  from  Harvard  in  1773,  he  turned  to  painting, 
but  was  diverted  by  the  arm\^,  and  served  with  Washington 
and  Gates.     Resigning  in   1777,  he  went  to  London,  and 


5i6  j\  History  of  Connecticvit 

studied  with  Benjamin  West.  After  his  return  to  America, 
he  did  much  to  foster  the  love  of  art  here.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  Though  not 
a  great  master,  Trumbull  was  a  conscientious  worker,  and 
his  portraits  will  always  be  valuable,  because  of  his  personal 
knowledge  of  men  like  Washington,  Jefferson,  John  Adams, 
Monroe,  John  Jay  and  Alexander  Hamilton. 

A  mystery  hangs  about  the  name  of  Elkanah  Tisdale, 
who  was  born  in  Lebanon  about  1771.  His  best  work  is  in 
miniature  portrait  painting  on  ivory,  and  a  portrait  of 
General  Knox  reveals  the  touch  of  a  master.  Anson  Dickin- 
son, who  was  born  in  Litchfield  in  1780,  was  regarded  in 
181 1,  as  the  best  miniature  painter  in  New  York.  During 
the  last  five  years  of  his  life  he  painted  in  Hartford.  An 
early  Hartford  painter  of  portraits  was  Joseph  Steward, 
and  among  his  works  is  a  portrait  of  Nathan  Strong,  a 
pastor  of  the  First  Church.  It  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
Connecticut  Historical  Society.  Steward  is  notable  as 
being  the  first  teacher  of  Samuel  Waldo,  who  was  born  in 
Windham  in  1783,  and  became  an  able  painter  of  portraits. 
He  studied  three  years  with  Benjamin  West,  and  after  he 
returned  to  Connecticut,  he  had  a  studio  on  Exchange  Corner, 
Hartford.  He  was  one  of  the  best  art  critics  of  his  day, 
and  his  untiring  faithfulness  is  suggested  by  his  advice  to  a 
pupil:  "When  you  paint  a  coat-sleeve  paint  it  as  carefully 
as  you  paint  an  eye."  Fine  examples  of  Waldo's  portraiture 
are  the  head  of  President  Jackson  in  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  and  one  of  himself.  As  Copley  in  Boston  was 
influenced  by  Blackburn  of  Connecticut,  so  painting  in  this 
colony  was  influenced  by  Copley,  who  had  a  marked  power 
over  Earl,  Trumbull  and  Waldo. 

The  earliest  American  sculptor  was  Hezekial  Augur, 
who  was  born  in  New  Haven  in  1791.  He  was  at  first  a 
merchant,  but  soon  turned  to  sculpture  and  mechanical 
inventions.  He  was  self-taught,  and  his  talent  turned  to 
wood-carving,  in  which  his  work  was  so  good  that  Professor 


Art  517 

Morse  urged  him  to  try  marble.  His  first  work  in  this 
line  was  a  head  of  Apollo,  after  which  he  produced  his 
head  of  Washington  and  figure  of  Sappho.  By  this  time 
his  fame  was  secure,  and  he  received  a  commission  from 
Congress  to  make  a  bust  of  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth,  which 
stands  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  room  in  Wash- 
ington. The  marble  statuettes,  Jephthah  and  his  Daughter, 
were  carved  without  models,  and  are  in  the  Trumbull 
Gallery  at  Yale  College.  They  are  of  a  high  rank  and  the 
drapery  is  remarkably  well  done.  Jephthah's  daughter 
shows  the  unskilled  touch,  but  with  all  its  crudity  it  is 
sweet  and  refined,  and  its  pose  of  frightened  inquiry,  with 
the  incline  of  the  figure  and  the  droop  of  the  arms  is  beauti- 
fully conceived. 

We  come  now  to  the  famous  name  of  Samuel  F.  B. 
Morse,  son  of  Jedediah  Morse,  the  eminent  Woodstock 
minister,  and  compiler  of  the  first  American  geography. 
He  was  born  in  Boston  in  1781,  graduated  from  Yale  in 
1 8 10,  studied  painting  under  Washington  Allston  and 
Benjamin  West,  became  one  of  the  best  of  our  early  portrait 
painters,  and  was  elected  first  president  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Design.  He  was  appointed  professor  of  the 
history  of  art  in  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
While  he  lived  in  New  Haven,  his  residence  was  in  a  low- 
roofed  house,  almost  on  the  site  of  the  present  Yale  Art 
Building.  His  work  is  of  a  very  high  order,  as  may  be  seen 
from  his  fine  portraits  of  the  father  and  mother  of  Donald 
G.  Mitchell,  now  in  the  Hartford  Atheneum,  and  that  of 
Lafayette,  which  is  in  the  New  York  City  Hall.  This 
versatile  genius,  while  returning  home  from  Europe  in  1832, 
conceived  the  idea  of  the  magnetic  telegraph,  and  with 
Professor  Draper  he  took  the  first  daguerreotype  made  in 
this  country. 

Edwin  Percival,  brother  of  the  poet  and  the  actor  of  that 
name,  was  born  in  Kensington  in  1793,  studied  at  Hartford, 
and  excelled  in  ideal  sketches.     The  Three  Daughters  of  Job 


51 8  A.  History  of  Connecticvxt 

is  his  best  work.  Daniel  Dickenson,  who  was  born  in 
Litchfield  in  1795,  studied  painting  in  New  Haven,  and 
devoted  himself  first  to  miniature  portrait  painting,  then 
advanced  to  the  canvas,  and  was  successful  through  a  long 
life.  Nathanael  Jocelyn  was  born  in  New  Haven  in  1796, 
and  after  a  varied  experience  in  engraving  bank-notes  and 
painting,  he  established  his  studio  in  New  Haven,  where  as 
an  enthusiastic  painter  and  teacher  of  painting,  he  exerted 
a  powerful  influence,  leaving  works  of  grace  and  power. 
S.  S.  Osgood  is  supposed  to  have  first  seen  the  light  in  New 
Haven  in  1798.  He  studied  in  Boston  and  in  1825,  he 
opened  a  studio  in  Hartford,  where  for  five  years  he  was 
the  leading  portrait  painter  in  the  city.  In  1830,  he  entered 
upon  a  course  of  portrait  painting  in  Europe,  where  he 
ranked  with  the  best  of  his  day.  A  son  of  Connecticut  by 
adoption  was  Thomas  S.  Cummings,  who  was  born  in  1804, 
and  lived  for  many  years  in  Mansfield  Center.  He  studied 
for  three  years  with  Henry  Inman  and  was  influential  in 
the  founding  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design.  Cum- 
mings was  called  by  Dunlap  the  best  instructed  painter  in 
water  color  portraits  in  America.  Henry  C.  Shumway  was 
born  in  Middletown,  and  when  a  schoolboy  he  showed 
artistic  taste,  which  led  to  his  becoming  a  student  at  the 
National  Academy  at  twenty-one.  He  painted  a  fine 
portrait  of  Henry  Clay,  and  his  miniatures  in  oil  on  ivory 
are  of  singular  beauty.  Seth  Cheney  was  born  in  South 
Manchester  in  18 10,  and  his  attention  was  early  turned  to 
crayon  drawing,  in  which  he  reached  such  distinction  that 
in  Paris,  the  home  of  crayon  artists,  he  was  acknowledged 
to  be  the  greatest  American  artist  in  crayon  drawing.  Later, 
he  worked  successfully  in  oil.  The  Head  of  a  Roman  Girl 
suggests  his  superior  skill. 

The  name  of  Flagg  stands  high  among  the  artists  of 
Connecticut.  Henry  C.  Flagg  was  born  in  New  Haven 
in  18 12,  and  in  early  life  he  gave  evidence  of  the  artistic 
genius  for  which  his  uncle,  Washington  Allston,  was  dis- 


Art  '     519 

tinguished.  His  work  was  mainly  in  marine  views  and  the 
painting  of  animals.  George  W.  Flagg  w^s  born  in  New 
Haven  in  18 17,  and  while  still  a  boy  he  was  an  artistic 
prodigy.  He  studied  with  his  uncle,  Washington  Allston, 
visited  Europe,  and  while  there  he  painted  one  of  his 
fine  works,  the  Match  Girl.  He  returned  to  New  Haven  at 
eighteen,  and  at  twenty-one  he  painted  a  capital  portrait 
of  William  Ellery  Channing.  Among  his  best  works  are 
the  Landing  oj  the  Pilgrims  and  a  superb  portrait  of  Washing- 
ton Allston.  Jared  B.  Flagg  was  born  in  New  Haven  in 
1820,  and  at  seventeen  he  began  independent  portrait 
painting.  At  nineteen  he  settled  in  Hartford,  where  he 
painted  several  governors.  After  moving  his  studio  to 
Brooklyn  he  exhibited  a  picture  of  Angelo  and  Isabella  at 
the  National  Academy,  and  was  elected  academician  in 
1854.  Foi"  several  years  his  work  in  the  fine  arts  was  in  the 
background,  while  he  served  as  rector  in  Birmingham  and 
Brooklyn,  and  later  he  returned  to  portrait  painting,  in 
which  he  never  lost  interest.  He  left  many  paintings  of  a 
high  order,  among  which  are  portraits  of  some  of  the  judges 
of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  New  York  City.  One  of  the  best 
things  that  this  gifted  man  did  was  to  write  the  Life  and 
Letters  of  Washington  Allston. 

Chauncy  B.  Ives  was  born  in  Hampden  in  1812;  he 
studied  sculpture  in  New  Haven  and  Boston,  and  spent  six 
years  in  Florence  and  twenty -five  in  Rome.  In  1855,  he 
opened  a  studio  in  New  York,  and  received  orders  for 
statues  of  Governor  Trumbull  and  Roger  Sherman  for  the 
Washington  Monument.  The  fine  piece  of  bronze  of  Bishop 
Brownell  on  the  grounds  of  Trinity  College  is  his  work. 
Luther  Terry,  who  was  born  in  Enfield,  spent  most  of  his 
life  in  Florence,  Rome  and  Venice,  and  secured  a  well- 
deserved  eminence  for  his  graceful  treatment  of  scriptural 
subjects.  J.  W.  Stancliff  was  born  in  Chatham  in  18 14,  and 
he  became  a  marine  artist  of  fidelity  and  skill.  One  of  his 
larger  canvases  is  entitled  Beached  for  Repairs  and  it  hangs 


520  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

in  the  Allyn  House,  Hartford.  Stancliff  was  for  a  time  presi- 
dent of  the  Hartford  School  of  Design.  George  H.  Cush- 
man,  the  miniature  painter,  was  born  in  Windham  in  1814, 
and  he  did  his  best  work  in  Newington,  excelHng  as  a  water 
colorist,  and  putting  into  exquisite  form  some  of  the  strong- 
est and  sweetest  traits  of  the  human  face.  R.  W.  Hubbard 
was  born  at  Middletown  in  1847,  and  studied  here  and 
abroad,  becoming  a  member  of  the  National  Academy 
of  Design.  He  was  especially  effective  in  chiaroscuro — 
the  silvery  light,  and  he  wrought  with  slow  and  careful 
elaboration. 

The  name  of  John  F.  Kensett  stands  in  the  front  rank 
of  artists.  He  was  born  in  Cheshire  in  1818,  studied  with 
vigor  and  enthusiasm  in  England,  France,  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  Rome.  In  1847,  he  opened  a  studio  in 
New  York.  He  is  known  as  the  beginner's  friend,  and  his 
singular  beauty  of  style  and  fidelity  to  his  ideals  are  illus- 
trated in  his  best  works,  Genesee  River  and  Lake  George. 
"  The  New  England  Farm  Scene  Painter  "  is  the  title  applied 
to  George  H.  Durrie,  who  was  born  in  New  Haven  in  1820. 
Pastoral  and  snow  scenes  especially  interested  him  and  his 
grouping  of  animals  is  remarkable.  Edward  S.  Barthole- 
mew,  who  was  born  in  Colchester  in  1822,  studied  at  the 
National  Academy  of  Design,  and  for  a  time  had  charge 
of  the  Wadsworth  Gallery,  Hartford,  where  he  enjoyed  the 
friendship  of  Isham  and  Church.  He  had  a  passion  for 
modeling  in  clay,  and  later  he  wrought  in  marble.  After 
going  to  New  York,  he  had  a  severe  attack  of  smallpox 
which  destroyed  his  remarkable  beauty,  and  left  him  a 
cripple,  on  crutches,  but  it  did  not  impair  his  courage.  He 
made  his  way  to  Rome,  and  came  under  the  instruction  of 
Farero  in  bas-relief.  Then  he  went  to  Greece  and  the 
East.  His  works  show  a  marvelous  variety;  the  greatest 
is  Eve  Repentant,  the  original  of  which  is  in  Philadelphia, 
and  a  copy  is  in  Hartford.  He  also  designed  the  Shepherd 
Boy  and  Washington.     Ralph  Isham,  who  was  born  in  1820, 


tL, 


t-^s^r::r?r7>.':^c"f'}^^:^^^"r:iimr 


2   ^ 


Art  521 

wrought  with  fine  taste  and  delicate  skill  at  the  Wadsworth 
Gallery.  Charles  D.  Brownell,  who  was  born  in  Providence 
in  1822,  made  East  Hartford  his  home  at  an  early  age,  and 
after  studying  with  Julius  Busch  he  devoted  himself  to 
landscape  painting.  The  Charter  Oak  is  one  of  his  best 
works. 

No  more  distinguished  name  appears  in  the  list  of 
Connecticut  artists  than  that  of  Frederick  E.  Church,  who 
was  born  in  Hartford  in  1826.  Through  his  school  days 
everything  was  made  subservient  to  painting,  and  as  a 
special  favor  he  was  permitted  to  be  a  pupil  of  Thomas 
Cole,  from  whom  he  caught  a  taste  for  classical  landscape 
composition  and  a  passion  for  perfecting  details,  a  tendency 
contrary  to  that  of  the  rest  of  the  world  of  artists.  The 
reaction  came  later,  when  Sir  Caspar  Clarke  came  from 
England  to  take  direction  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
and  rehung  Church's  Heart  of  the  Andes  and  the  Mgean  Sea. 
Clarke  also  insisted  that  Church  was  a  great  painter.  Church 
was  a  man  of  unquenchable  resolution  and  energy ;  he  studied 
in  every  clime.  His  "brush  was  his  walking-stick."  He 
painted  Niagara  in  six  weeks,  after  making  many  sketches. 
In  1853,  he  went  to  South  America,  where  he  caught  the 
inspiration  for  his  famous  Heart  of  the  Andes  and  Chimborazo. 
His  visit  to  Labrador  made  it  possible  for  him  to  paint  his 
most  remarkable  canvas.  Icebergs.  The  Parthenon  and 
View  of  Quebec,  which  are  in  the  Atheneum,  are  among 
his  best  pictures.  His  Morning  in  the  Tropics  is  also  a 
beautiful  fruit  of  his  versatile  and  gifted  brush. 

John  L.  Fitch  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1836,  studied 
in  Munich  and  Milan,  and  is  known  as  a  forest  painter. 
One  of  the  finest  of  his  works  is  Twilight  on  John's  Brook. 
The  special  interest  of  Gurdon  Trumbull,  who  was  born 
in  Stonington  in  1841,  was  living  fish,  and  his  best  canvas 
is  A  Critical  Moment.  George  F.  Wright,  who  was  born 
in  Washington  in  1828,  was  a  student  of  the  National 
Academy,  also  in  Munich,  and  after  practicing  his  art  in 


522  lA.  History  of  Connecticvit 

Italy  for  some  time  he  opened  a  studio  in  Hartford.  His 
portraits  are  seen  in  the  State  Library,  Atheneum  and  in 
many  private  houses.  He  painted  one  of  the  earliest 
portraits  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  Portrait  oj  a  Child 
is  a  good  example  of  his  skill.  Olin  L.  Warner,  the  sculptor, 
was  born  at  West  Suffield  in  1844,  and  early  in  life  he  gave 
promise  of  a  brilliant  career.  After  studying  in  France  he 
opened  a  studio  in  New  York,  and  his  best  works  are 
Twilight,  The  Dancing  Nymph,  a  bronze  statue  of  William 
L.  Garrison  and  one  of  Governor  Buckingham.  His  last 
work  was  upon  a  contract  for  two  doors  for  the  Congressional 
Library;  he  completed  one,  but  a  fall  from  his  horse  cut 
short  his  work  on  the  other.  In  his  Diana  may  be  seen  a 
fine  example  of  the  delicate  and  refined  delineation  of  the 
beautiful  in  character,  so  characteristic  of  this  gifted  sculptor. 
Louis  Potter,  the  sculptor,  was  born  in  Chatham, 
New  York,  began  his  art  studies  while  a  student  at  Trinity 
College,  with  Charles  Noell  Flagg,  under  whose  direction 
his  striking  originality  and  suggestiveness  developed.  A 
remarkable  illustration  of  Potter's  early  power  is  seen  in 
his  Life  and  Death,  a  painting  of  a  skull  and  a  rose.  After 
going  to  Tunis,  Potter  engaged  in  Arabian  studies  and  was 
led  to  devote  himself  to  sculpture,  in  which  he  became 
famous.  His  work  is  along  the  three  lines  of  Arabian 
character  studies,  Alaska  Indians  and  classical  symbolism. 
His  Earth-bound  is  a  work  of  marvelous  power  and  sug- 
gestiveness,— an  aged  man  and  two  women  support  an 
enormous  burden,  which  bows  them  over,  while  a  little  girl 
plays  between  them.  He  had  a  power  of  intuition  which 
enabled  him  to  portray  in  symbols  the  universal  life  force 
which  lies  behind  all  created  things,  and  the  symbolism, 
though  striking  and  spiritual,  is  so  simple  and  inevitable 
that  a  child  may  interpret  it.  In  his  Dance  of  the  Wind 
Gods  of  the  East  and  West,  there  is  an  interesting  study  of  the 
different  races.  Other  works  of  his  are  The  Basket-weavers, 
A  Hunter  and  his  Dogs,  The  Call  of  the  Spirit,  The  Master- 


The  Athenaeum  and  Morgan  Memorial,  Hartford 

From  a  Photograph 


The  Old  State  House,  Hartford,  now  City  Hall 


Art  523 

builder  and  The  Fire  Dance.  Though  he  died  at  thirty- 
nine,  his  genius  and  industry  filled  out  a  remarkable  career. 
Gilbert  Munger,  "painter,  poet,  patriot, "  was  born  in  North 
Madison,  and  died  in  1903,  having  achieved  the  distinction 
of  being  made  Baron  of  the  House  of  Orders.  His  superb 
genius  was  recognized  by  honors  given  in  Italy,  Germany 
and  France. 

Among  the  architects  David  Hoadley,  designer  and 
builder  of  the  United  Church,  New  Haven,  has  a  high 
standing.  He  was  born  in  Waterbury  in  1774,  where  he 
designed  the  celebrated  Scoville  house,  also  the  Russell 
house  in  Middletown,  a  famous  piece  of  domestic  archi- 
tecture. Among  his  many  excellent  works  are  the  meeting- 
houses in  Milford  and  Norfolk,  still  in  existence,  also  the 
Professor  Kingsley  house  on  Temple  Street,  New  Haven. 
Though  he  was  self-taught,  his  work  is  of  a  high  order. 
While  Hoadley  was  working  on  the  United  Church,  Ithiel 
Town  was  building  Center  and  Trinity  on  New  Haven  Green, 
the  two  men  giving  to  the  city  a  remarkable  flavor  of  old 
New  England.  Ithiel  Town  was  born  in  Thompson  in 
1784,  worked  in  Boston  for  a  time,  then  went  to  New  Haven, 
prepared  to  do  designing  and  building  work.  In  18 12,  he 
was  chosen  to  design  and  build  the  Center  Church.  About 
the  same  time,  he  took  up  the  designing  of  the  Trinity 
Church.  Both  were  finished  in  18 15,  and  Town  was  in  the 
front  rank  of  American  designers.  He  also  designed  the 
old  State  House  in  New  Haven,  the  Professor  Salisbury 
house,  and  many  other  buildings.  For  Hartford  he  de- 
signed the  Wadsworth  Atheneum  and  Christ  Church. 
In  many  of  the  old  towns  there  are  fine  examples  of  colonial 
architecture,  prominent  among  which  are  the  Christopher 
Wren  churches  in  Hartford,  Wethersfield  and  Farmington. 

There  are  many  living  artists  that  should  be  mentioned 
were  a  complete  list  attempted;  moreover  the  Yale  Art 
School,  for  whom  John  F.  Weir  and  John  H.  Niemeyer 
have  done  so  much,  and  the  Wadsworth  Atheneum  in  Hart- 


524  -A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

ford  are  vital  sources  of  artistic  culture.  The  Atheneum 
has  recently  been  enlarged  and  enriched  with  art  treasures 
through  the  beneficence  of  a  distinguished  son  of  Hartford, 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  whose  gift  of  the  Morgan  Memorial  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  buildings  in  New  England.  The 
new  State  House,  the  majestic  State  Library  and  the  superb 
New  Haven  Court  House  are  also  illustrations  of  the  modern 
interest  in  noble  architecture.  There  is  also  a  widespread 
attention  to  art  in  the  public,  private  and  evening  schools, 
which  are  cultivating  taste  and  skill  in  drawing,  painting  and 
moulding,  so  that  while  "Connecticut  is  not  Athens,"  she  is 
becoming  more  and  more  an  art  center,  and  there  are  many 
indications  that  the  future  will  be  worthy  of  a  past  whose 
artistic  achievements  have  been  of  a  high  order. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 
MUSIC 

THE  history  of  music  in  Connecticut  not  only  brings 
before  us  some  curious  customs,  it  discloses  also  some 
interesting  and  suggestive  phases  of  the  life  of  the  people, 
unfolding  from  generation  to  generation.  In  tracing  it 
from  the  crude  psalm-singing  of  the  early  settlers  to  the 
varied,  and  often  superb  culture  of  the  present,  we 
notice  that  while  music,  both  sacred  and  secular,  was 
earnestly  cultivated  in  England  in  the  days  of  Henry  VIIL, 
Elizabeth  and  James  I.,  the  Revolution  had  swept  over  the 
country,  and  the  Puritans  had  destroyed  organs,  burned 
music-books,  dissolved  church  choirs  and  chased  musicians 
from  the  organ  gallery.  With  more  of  the  spirit  of  Calvin 
than  of  Luther,  Puritanism  was  suspicious  of  music,  and  per- 
mitted nothing  elaborate,  allowing  only  the  melody  of  the 
hymn  to  be  sung.  Thus  the  Puritan  psalmody  became  a 
crude  use  of  a.  few  old  tunes,  modified  by  the  climate  and 
disposition  of  New  England;  a  kind  of  people's  plain  song 
run  into  the  mold  of  a  neat  little  version  of  the  psalms,  which 
they  brought  over  from  Amsterdam,  a  version  by  the  Rev. 
Henry  Ains worth,  a  musical  celebrity,  who  placed  over 
the  psalms  the  melodies  in  diamond-shaped  notes,  without 
bars — a  favorite  at  Plymouth.  In  1640,  the  Bay  Psalm 
Book  was  published  at  Cambridge — the  second  book 
printed  in  America — and  it  was  so  well  received  that  it  ran 
through   seventy   editions.     At   a   time   when   lyrical   and 

525 


526  A  History  of  Connecticut 

sacred  dramas  and  oratorios  were  taking  root  in  Germany, 
when  Handel  and  Bach  were  pouring  forth  their  immortal 
works,  when  the  great  Henry  Purcell  was  giving  color  and 
beauty  to  English  dramatic  and  religious  music,  the  Puritans 
began  the  long  climb  from  the  rude,  and  often  doleful  strains, 
to  a  superior  knowledge  and  refinement. 

We  smile  at  the  cautious  deliberating  over  the  question 
whether  a  Christian  could  conscientiously  sing  at  all,  or 
only  "make  melody  in  his  heart  unto  the  Lord, "  and  perhaps 
come  in  strong  on  the  Amen,  or  whether  any  one  but  a  Chris- 
tian should  sing,  or  whether  the  psalms  should  be  sung  or 
read  in  church.  The  discovery  that  the  Hebrews  sang  in 
worship  settled  the  matter  with  most  people,  but  every 
energy  was  exerted  to  make  the  singing  as  solemn  and 
unworldly  as  possible.  Haydn  had  written  the  First 
Symphony  when  the  New  England  congregations  were 
divided  as  to  whether  they  would  retain  the  "lining-out" 
of  the  hymns.  The  composer  of  the  Ninth  Symphony 
was  born  the  same  year  that  William  Billings  published  his 
rude,  fuguing  New  England  Psalm-singer.  The  religious 
people's  song  of  early  years  gradually  settled  down  into 
five  tunes  or  noises,  the  like  of  which  has  not  been  heard 
before  or  since.  These  tunes  were  Old  Hundred,  York, 
Hackney  or  St.  Mary's,  Windsor  and  Martyrs,  and  they 
often  seemed  to  draft  in  the  roar  of  the  Atlantic,  the  howl 
of  the  wolf  and  the  yell  of  the  Indians.  They  were  never 
sung  twice  alike,  and  while  they  were  going  off,  there  were 
hardly  two  singers  abreast,  for  the  slow-gaited  saints  would 
linger  to  breathe  once  or  twice  in  a  syllable,  while  others 
would  press  boldly  on  and  get  through  early. 

Lining-out  was  a  method  established  by  Parliament  in 
1644,  and  New  England  adopted  it  cheerfully,  for  money 
was  not  plentiful,  and  it  was  an  object  to  save  the  cost  of 
hymn-books.  It  came  about  in  this  way  in  England:  the 
Westminster  Assembly  of  ministers,  to  which  Parliament 
referred  all  matters  of  religion,  abolished  the  liturgy,  and 


Mxisic  527 

decided  that  there  should  be  no  music  in  church  but  psalm- 
singing,  and  "for  the  present,  where  many  in  the  congrega- 
tion cannot  read,  it  is  convenient  that  the  minister,  or  some 
fit  person  .  .  .  read  the  psalm  line  by  line,  before  singing 
thereof."  It  was  a  queer  way  to  sing  a  hymn, — give  it  out 
by  installments  of  a  line  at  a  time,  read  by  a  deacon  (hence 
called  "deaconing").  The  effect  was  a  little  confusing  at 
times,  and  must  have  called  a  smile  to  merry  lips,  when  lines 
like  these  were  rendered: 

The  Lord  will  come,  and  He  will  not 

and  after  this  difficult  undertaking  even  for  the  Lord  had 
been  rendered,  they  sang. 

Keep  silence,  but  speak  out. 

For  more  than  eighty  years,  those  five  tunes,  with  their 
ceaseless  variations,  were  sung,  for  so  much  sacredness  had 
gathered  about  them  that  new  music  seemed  like  an  allure- 
ment of  the  tempter.  In  1690,  music  was  put  into  the  new 
editions  of  the  psalm-books,  and  there  is  one  of  these  now 
in  existence  that  was  published  in  Boston  in  1698.  The 
movement  to  improve  church  music  began  near  the  opening 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  it  met  decided  opposition. 
The  New  Way,  as  singing  by  note  was  called,  was  bitterly 
condemned  by  conservatives.  One  man  said,  "If  we  sing 
by  rule,  the  next  thing  we  shall  pray  by  rule,  then  we  shall 
preach  by  rule,  then  popery."  In  some  churches,  for  a 
time,  the  two  ways  were  practiced  side  by  side.  In  1733, 
the  church  in  Glastonbury  voted  to  use  one  way  in  the 
morning,  and  the  other  in  the  afternoon.  In  some  churches 
lining-out  continued  until  after  the  Revolution.  About 
1720,  a  decided  interest  in  music  arose;  singing  societies 
were  formed,  and  much  excitement  prevailed  over  daring 
and  impious  attempts  to  bring  in  new  tunes  and  singing  by 
rule.     In  1721,  Thomas  Walter,  of  Roxbury,  Massachusetts, 


528  A  History  of  Connecticut 

published  a  book  with  music  and  suggestions  how  to  sing 
the  tunes.  Walter's  views  were  decidedly  advanced.  He 
complains  of  the  singing  which  prevailed,  as  sounding  like 
"five  hundred  tunes  roared  out  at  the  same  time."  He 
speaks  of  the  noises  as  "so  hideous  and  disorderly  as 
to  be  bad  beyond  expression."  Most  ministers  and  many 
others  joined  to  improve  the  music,  but  the  opposition 
fought  the  changes  as  only  a  little  less  fearful  than  the 
devil,  who  figured  in  the  witchcraft  epidemic,  through 
which  they  had  just  passed.  Here  are  some  of  the  objec- 
tions: That  it  was  a  new  way  to  sing  by  note;  that  it 
was  less  melodious  than  the  old  way;  that  there  were 
so  many  tunes,  no  one  could  learn  them;  that  churches 
were  disturbed,  and  good  men  grieved;  that  it  was  popish; 
that  it  would  introduce  instruments;  that  the  names 
of  the  notes  were  blasphemous;  that  the  old  way  was 
good  enough;  that  it  was  a  contrivance  to  get  money. 
They  asked  seriously  whether  men  forty  years  old 
and  more  could  learn  to  sing  by  note,  or  ought  to  try. 
The  rising  tide  of  interest  in  music  swept  away  these 
and  other  objections,  and  led  to  the  holding  of  singing 
schools,  which  not  only  diffused  musical  knowledge 
among  the  people,  but  also  improved  the  style  of  church 
music.  The  tunes  in  Walter's  book  were  arranged  in  three 
parts  and  they  were  the  first  music  printed  with  bars  in 
America. 

With  the  coming  of  singing  schools  in  1720,  there  came 
also  choirs — a  natural  consequence  of  singing  schools. 
There  was  objection  to  choirs  on  the  part  of  many,  who 
regarded  skillful  singing  a  sin,  and  sometimes  the  choirs  were 
trying.  In  one  church  the  choir  struck  and  went  out,  but 
thinking  better  of  it  returned,  when  the  minister  got  his 
revenge  on  them  by  giving  out  the  hymn, 

And  are  ye  wretches  yet  alive? 
And  do  ye  yet  rebel? 


Mvisic  529 

In  1 741,  Dr.  Franklin  published  in  Philadelphia  an 
edition  of  Watts's  Hymns,  and  the  same  year  his  Psalms 
were  issued  in  Boston.  Watts  did  what  he  could  to  retire 
the  "lining-out"  custom,  by  saying  in  the  preface  of  an 
early  edition,  "It  were  to  be  wished  that  all  congregations 
and  private  families  would  sing  without  reading." 

With  the  coming  of  singing  schools  and  choirs,  "lining- 
out  "  fell  away,  though  not  without  a  struggle,  as  in  one  town 
where  the  choir  had  started  in  as  soon  as  the  hymn  was 
announced,  and  after  it  had  gone  through  it,  a  resolute 
deacon  arose  and  putting  his  spectacles  on,  said,  "Now  let 
the  people  of  God  sing."  About  the  same  time  that  Watts's 
books  came  into  use,  others,  such  as  Tate  and  Brady's  and 
Flagg's,  were  issued,  and  in  1770,  there  appeared  the  first 
American  composition,  The  New  England  Psalm-singer: 
or  American  Chorister,  by  William  Billings  of  Boston,  a 
tanner,  then  a  singing  teacher;  he  was  an  honest,  earnest, 
whole-hearted  sort  of  a  man,  with  a  powerful  voice,  from  a 
throat  rasped  by  snuff  at  wholesale.  His  book  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  tunes  and  several  anthems  had  some 
new  features,  and  among  these  was  the  writing  of  music  in 
four  and  five  parts.  Billings  was  a  curious  mixture  of  the 
smart,  ludicrous,  patriotic  and  religious,  together  with  a 
vast  confidence  in  his  musical  ability.  His  New  England 
Fugue  filled  him  with  joy  and  pride,  and  he  writes  of  the 
fugue,  it  "has  twenty  times  the  power  of  the  old  slow  tunes; 
each  part  straining  for  the  mastery  and  victory,  the  audi- 
ence entertained  and  delighted.  Now  the  solemn  bass 
demands  their  attention — next,  the  manly  tenor — now,  the 
lofty  counter — now,  the  volatile  treble.  Now  here — now 
there,  now  here  again.  O  ecstatic!  Rush  on,  you  sons  of 
harmony."  The  spirit  of  the  Revolution  was  stirring  men's 
souls,  and  Billings  became  a  patriotic  psalm-singer,  and  he 
put  fife,  drum  and  musket  into  the  psalm-tunes  for  march 
and  camp.  His  masterpiece,  the  tune  of  Chester,  floated 
the  following  song : 
34 


530  A.  History  of  Connectic\it 

Let  tyrants  shake  their  iron  rod, 
And  Slavery  clank  her  galling  chains: 
We'll  fear  them  not,  we'll  trust  in  God; 
New  England's  God  forever  reigns. 

The  foe  comes  on  with  haughty  stride, 
Our  troops  advance  with  martial  noise; 
Their  veterans  flee  before  our  arms. 
And  generals  yield  to  beardless  boys. 

He  did  not  hesitate  to  summon  the  people  to  join  in  this 
outburst : 

O  praise  the  Lord  with  one  consent. 

And  in  this  grand  design, 

Let  British  and  the  Colonies  unanimously  join. 

In  his  Lamentation  over  Boston,  we  find  the  following : 

By  the  rivers  of  Watertown,  we  sat  down: 
Yea,  we  wept  as  we  remembered  Boston. 

Billings  is  said  to  have  begun  the  use  of  the  pitch-pipe,  a  box 
six  or  eight  inches  long,  four  inches  wide,  and  an  inch  thick, 
with  a  mouthpiece,  and  letters  to  denote  the  pitch,  regu- 
lated by  a  slide.  Later  came  the  tuning-fork.  These  little 
instruments  marked  a  decided  advance  on  the  time  when 
singers  made  the  daring  and  perilous  venture  to  "strike  up 
the  tune"  at  a  speculation.  Billings  also  encouraged  the 
use  of  the  viol,  or  as  we  should  say,  the  violoncello,  an 
instrument  so  dangerous  that  some  of  the  worshipers  ran 
out  of  the  meeting-house  when  it  was  tuned.  Had  not 
Amos  quoted  the  Lord  as  saying,  "I  will  not  hear  the  melody 
of  thy  viols"?  Then  came  the  flute,  hautboy,  clarinet  and 
bassoon,  until  there  was  quite  an  orchestra  in  the  choir 
gallery,  reminding  some  of  the  conservatives  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's band  of  cornet,  flute,  dulcimer  and  sackbut.  It 
was  safer  and  more  economical  to  call  on  the  train-band  to 
furnish  instruments  to  lead  the  rising  tide  of  song  than  to 


Mvjsic  531 

put  in  the  unsavory  organs.  There  is  a  record  of  an  organ 
in  Worthington  in  1792,  but  the  nineteenth  century  was  well 
started  before  this  instrument  came  into  general  use. 

A  Connecticut  teacher  and  composer  of  music,  who 
came  soon  after  Billings,  was  Andrew  Law,  who  was  born  in 
Cheshire  in  1748.  Law  indulged  but  little  in  the  fugue,  and 
did  ejfficient  work  as  a  teacher  and  writer  of  books.  He 
insisted  on  the  practice  of  giving  to  women  the  air  of  the 
tune,  which  had  been  taken  by  the  tenor.  This  was  not 
acceptable  to  all  of  the  saints,  especially  the  tenors,  who 
believed  with  Paul  that  woman  was  the  weaker  vessel.  Law 
began  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  issue  of 
a  periodical,  called  the  Art  of  Singing,  but  he  never  had 
anything  like  the  popularity  of  Billings,  though  he  was 
much  better  educated  in  music,  and  was  the  most  thorough 
teacher  in  the  country.  He  emphasized  "tuning  the  voice" 
so  that  it  would  harmonize  with  other  voices.  Through  the 
middle  and  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  schools 
and  choirs  made  a  brisk  market  for  new  books,  which  came 
in  swift  succession,  and  composers  and  teachers  of  psalmody 
went  from  town  to  town  to  teach  music,  and  peddle  "new 
and  never-before-printed"  psalm-tune  collections.  There 
was  not  much  secular  music,  but  lively  "fuguing"  tunes 
were  in  great  demand. 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  there  arose  a  reaction 
against  the  Billings  style,  as  the  works  of  Handel,  Haydn 
and  Mozart  came  into  use,  and  Handel's  Messiah  and 
Haydn's  Creation  were  rendered  by  church  choirs  and 
musical  societies.  The  psalm-tunes  and  weak  sentimental 
anthems  of  the  earlier  time  were  swept  away  before  inspiring 
creations  of  the  great  European  masters.  Among  the  last 
of  the  Old  Guard  was  Thomas  Hastings,  who  was  born  in 
Washington,  Litchfield  County,  in  1787,  and  after  a  short 
trial  at  farming,  he  became  a  teacher  of  music,  was  connected 
with  a  county  Handel  and  Haydn  Society  of  Oneida  County, 
New  York,  edited  a  journal,  wrote  hymns,  composed  tunes 


532  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

and  did  much  to  develop  correct  singing  and  reverent  music, 
though  he  considered  symphonies  as  "excellent  subjects  for 
study  to  professional  men,  but  possess  few  attractions  for 
the  community  at  large."  He  held  that  "parlor  music, 
when  not  intended  for  the  mere  exercise  of  talent,  should  be 
adapted  to  promote  moral  principles,  refined  sentiments, 
and  sympathetic  emotions."  Hastings  had  not  thrown  off 
the  Puritan  strait- jacket,  but  he  was  one  of  the  last  of  the 
school  of  psalm-tune  teachers,  for  the  music  of  the  pro- 
fessional had  begun  to  be  heard  in  the  land.  Musical 
societies  multiplied,  especially  in  New  York  and  Boston,  and 
Connecticut  felt  the  impulse  of  the  operas  and  oratorios, 
and  before  long,  music  was  cultivated  in  the  public  schools, 
and  pianos  multiplied  in  the  homes.  The  spinet  and  harpsi- 
chord had  long  been  used  in  a  very  limited  way.  This  useful 
movement  in  music  became  powerful  after  1830,  at  a  time 
when  the  minds  of  the  people  were  awakening  to  the  calls 
of  the  new  age.  No  one  can  understand  the  advance  in 
music  without  considering  the  influence  of  Mason  and  Webb, 
whose  leadership  was  probably  more  decided  than  that  of 
Hastings.  It  was  a  long  evolution  from  the  psalm-singing  Pur- 
itans, with  not  even  a  tuning-fork,  to  the  music  of  the  present 
day.  All  kinds  of  questions  had  to  be  answered,  and  various 
conditions  met.  The  merry  old  tune  of  Lydia Fisher  became 
the  patriotic  Yankee  Doodle;  psalm-tunes,  which  had  wafted 
fervid  souls  heavenward,  cheered  the  patriots  at  Saratoga 
and  Trenton;  instrument  after  instrument  crept  into  the 
choir  gallery  until  a  worshiper  might  almost  imagine  that 
a  train-band  was  rehearsing  the  harp  music  of  the  heavenly 
orchestra.  About  a  hundred  years  ago,  organs,  paid 
choirs,  pianos,  oratorios,  operas,  singing  in  the  public 
schools,  hymn-books  of  all  kinds,  from  the  jingle  to  the 
classic,  carried  the  people  still  further  from  the  days  of  five 
tunes  with  variations,  sung  without  even  a  pitch-pipe  to 
standardize.  Singing  schools  continued,  and  in  some 
communities    they  were   held    twice  a  week;    there  were 


Music  533 

thorough  teachers,  and  drill  was  exacting.  Young  folks 
might  court  and  flirt  to  their  hearts'  content  on  their  way 
to  school  and  afterwards,  but  during  the  sessions,  the  task 
was  stiff  and  the  discipline  strict. 

The  most  eminent  composer  of  the  modern  period  was 
Dudley  Buck,  who  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1839,  and  after 
a  brief  course  at  Trinity  College,  he  went  to  Leipzig  to  the 
Conservatory,  studying  under  the  great  masters,  Haupt- 
mann,  Richter,  Rietz  and  Moscheles;  later  he  studied  the 
organ  under  Schneider  at  Dresden.  After  three  years  in 
Germany,  he  spent  a  year  in  Paris,  and  then  returned  to 
Hartford,  to  be  a  church  organist  and  teacher  of  music.  He 
entered  upon  a  series  of  organ-concert  tours  lasting  fifteen 
years,  playing  in  almost  every  important  city  and  in  many 
smaller  towns,  popularizing  the  best  music,  and  interpreting 
it  to  thousands.  In  1869,  he  was  called  to  the  "mother- 
church"  of  Chicago,  and  after  the  fire  in  1871,  he  went  to 
Boston,  to  become  organist  at  St.  Paul's;  later  he  was  in 
charge  of  the  "great  organ"  at  Music  Hall.  In  1875,  Buck 
became  assistant  conductor  at  the  Cincinnati  Music  Festi- 
val, and  on  invitation  of  Theodore  Thomas,  he  had  a  part  in 
concerts  at  the  Central  Park  Garden,  New  York.  He 
became  organist  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Brooklyn,  and  in  1877, 
conductor  of  the  Apollo  Club,  which  he  founded,  and  brought 
to  a  high  efficiency,  writing  for  it  many  of  his  numerous  com- 
positions for  male  voices.  Buck  was  a  thoroughly  trained 
musician,  talented,  expert  and  clever.  He  laid  stress  on  the 
quartette,  and  wrote  many  organ  solos,  sonatas,  marches,  pas- 
torals; he  holds  a  foremost  place  in  the  cantata.  In  1876,  he 
set  to  music  the  Centennial  Meditation  of  Columbia,  performed 
under  the  direction  of  Theodore  Thomas.  His  largest 
work  was  an  oratorio,  Tlie  Light  of  Asia,  and  in  his  later 
compositions,  he  adopted  the  Wagnerian  method,  though 
otherwise  he  follows  the  school  of  canon  and  fugue,  "with 
an  Italian  tendency  to  the  declamatory,  and  well-rounded 
melodic  period."     His  sacred  music  holds  a  high  place,  and 


534  -^  History  of  Connecticvit 

his  Golden  Legend  won  the  prize  offered  by  the  Musical 
Festival  Association  of  Cincinnati  in  1880.  His  latest 
published  works  are  short  cantatas  with  organ  accompani- 
ment, called  The  Coming  of  the  King,  The  Story  of  the  Cross 
and  Christ  the  Victor.  After  a  long  and  valuable  service  in 
which  he  composed  many  songs,  anthems  and  organ  pieces, 
Dudley  Buck  retired  from  active  work  in  1903,  and  in  1909, 
he  died. 

An  important  movement  of  recent  years  is  the  Litch- 
field County  Choral  Union,  a  union  of  five  societies,  center- 
ing in  Norfolk,  and  embracing  a  large  part  of  the  county, 
through  which  seven  hundred  voices  are  in  training,  with 
weekly  rehearsals,  under  the  direction  of  Richard  P.  Paine, 
from  January  until  June,  when  a  three  days'  festival  is 
given  in  a  large  building  erected  for  the  purpose.  The 
chorus  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  voices  is  assisted 
by  an  orchestra  of  seventy-five  instruments,  and  the  first 
concert  is  always  a  full  oratorio.  On  the  second  and  third 
evenings  the  chorus  is  generally  utilized  in  short  choral 
work,  while  the  rest  of  the  time  is  devoted  to  orchestral 
music,  with  several  instrumental  soloists.  Several  years 
ago  composers  were  encouraged  to  prepare  original  works 
for  the  first  performance  at  the  festivals,  and  an  oratorio, 
a  cantata,  symphony,  two  violin  concertos  and  other  works 
appeared  then,  mostly  by  American  composers.  The  ex- 
pense is  met  by  Carl  Stoeckel  and  his  wife,  who  do  this 
service  in  memory  of  Robbins  Battell,  in  whose  honor  the 
Choral  Union  was  formed  to  present  to  the  people  of  Litch- 
field County  the  best  choral  and  orchestral  music.  Twelve 
years  have  wrought  marked  changes  in  polishing  and  finish- 
ing tone  and  phrase,  and  in  bringing  deeper  meanings  of  the 
works  to  the  singers,  and  now  any  current  choral  work  can  be 
given  with  brilliant  effect.  One  result  of  this  movement  is 
the  marked  improvement  in  the  church  music  in  the  county. 

While  it  is  impossible  to  give  in  detail  the  rich  develop- 
ment of  music  in  recent  times,  stress  must  be  laid  upon  the 


Dudley  Buck  (1839  1909) 

From    an    Engraving 


Music  535 

Yale  School  of  Music,  the  influence  of  which,  with  its  San- 
ford,  the  Stoeckels,  Parker,  Smith,  Jepson  and  others,  has 
been  wide  and  powerful.  Prominent  in  the  founding  of  the 
school  was  Samuel  Sanford,  who  was  born  in  Bridgeport 
and  was  connected  with  the  Damrosch  Symphony.  San- 
ford was  professor  of  the  pianoforte,  and  had  much  to  do  with 
bringing  to  Yale  the  eminent  Horatio  Parker,  whose  composi- 
tions are  large  in  volume,  and  high  in  quality.  His  Hora 
Novissima  was  performed  at  Chester,  England,  in  1899;  be- 
ing the  first  American  production  ever  given  on  one  of  those 
festivals.  In  191 1,  he  was  awarded  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
prize  of  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  opera  Mona.  His 
Wanderer's  Psalm  was  given  at  the  festival  at  Hereford, 
England.  The  New  Haven  Symphony  Orchestra  has  been 
justly  celebrated,  as  has  the  Hartford  Philharmonic  Society, 
and  the  Beethoven  Society,  founded  in  Hartford  by  George 
E.  Whiting;  doing  large  service  under  Barnet. 

The  progress  has  been  long  but  decided,  from  the  rude 
and  venturesome  five-tune  medleys  to  present  conditions, 
and  instruments  of  all  kinds  from  the  penny-in-the-slot 
device  to  the  richest  organ  are  doing  their  best — many  of 
them  under  the  skillful  touch  of  trained  and  able  musicians 
— to  reinforce  the  voices  of  wonderful  singers.  Delightful 
concerts  at  the  Sunday  services  charm  the  worshipers,  and 
waft  their  aspirations  heavenward  far  more  esthetically 
than  in  the  old  lining-out  days.  Music  is  an  important 
department  in  the  course  in  public  schools.  Humble  is  the 
home  that  does  not  possess  some  instrument.  Germany, 
Italy,  Russia,  England,  Poland  and  the  great  cities  of  our 
own  country  pour  into  Connecticut  their  treasures  to  help 
usher  in  the  Golden  Age  of  music. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 
AGRICULTURE 

AMONG  the  resources  to  which  the  settlers  turned  for  a 
living,  farming  stood  first,  and  they  found  ample  field  to 
develop  muscle,  skill  and  patience,  since  the  greater  part  of 
the  three  million  acres  consisted  of  rolling  or  mountainous 
highlands,  with  innumerable  small  valleys.  The  eastern 
parts  are  less  rugged  than  the  western,  and  between  these 
lies  the  Connecticut  basin,  with  its  sandy  loam,  containing 
also  deposits  of  sand  and  gravel.  The  soils,  as  related  in  an 
earlier  chapter,  are  derived  from  the  glaciation  of  the  under- 
lying rock,  and  the  highland  portion  has  been  swept  bare 
of  the  finer  material  at  the  higher  altitudes  and  on  the 
steep  slopes.  The  lower  inclines  are  covered  in  places  by 
a  glacial  debris,  in  which  are  found  stony,  sandy  and  heavy 
loams.  Large  areas  can  be  used  only  for  forestry  or  pas- 
turage, and  fruit  trees  flourish  on  the  rocky  hillsides.  The 
Indians  did  little  in  farming,  though  they  cleared  fields  by 
girdling  and  firing,  and  the  settlers  learned  from  them  about 
growing  and  storing  Indian  corn. 

The  farmer,  whether  primitive  or  trained,  whether  toiling 
on  the  stony  fields  of  the  eastern  counties  or  delving  in  the 
rich,  mellow  soil  of  the  central  valley,  has  been  an  indis- 
pensable element  in  the  commonwealth.  The  farm  has  been 
a  poor  place  for  a  lazy  man  to  exercise  his  gifts,  and  the 
virtues  it  has  fostered  are  industry  and  thrift.  From  early 
times  the  typical  farmer  has   been  an  incessant  worker; 

536 


Agricviltxire  537 

mending  a  cart  like  a  mechanic,  tapping  shoes  like  a  cobbler, 
doctoring  a  sick  cow  like  a  veterinary,  and  building  a  barn 
like  a  carpenter.  His  clothes  were  mostly  from  the  backs  of 
his  sheep  or  from  his  field  of  flax,  and  while  they  were  not 
fanciful  either  in  color  or  cut,  they  would  wear,  and  keep 
out  wind  and  water.  Shoes  were  usually  home-made ;  a  calf 
furnished  the  skin;  an  itinerant  shoemaker  made  the  solid 
footwear,  and  about  Thanksgiving  time  a  pair  of  shoes  was 
given  to  each  of  the  boys  with  the  charge  to  make  them  last 
a  year.  In  the  summer,  boys  and  even  men  went  barefoot, 
and  if  they  walked  to  church,  they  would  carry  their  shoes 
and  stockings  until  near  the  sanctuary,  thus  saving  shoe- 
leather  and  shine. 

Money  was  in  little  use;  nearly  everything  but  taxes 
was  paid  for  by  exchange.  When  a  farmer  killed  veal, 
mutton,  pork  or  beef,  he  distributed  portions  of  the  meat 
among  his  neighbors,  who  returned  a  similar  quantity  when 
convenient.  In  the  spring,  after  the  first  hoeing,  the  farmer 
would  take  a  load  of  corn  or  rye  to  the  nearest  large  town,  and 
carry  home  flour,  molasses,  spices  and  other  household 
necessities,  and  in  the  autumn  the  pork  was  carried  off  in 
the  same  manner.  Sometimes  twenty  teams  started  from 
one  neighborhood  together,  all  loaded  with  grain  or  pork 
for  the  city,  perhaps  thirty  miles  distant.  The  hired  man 
was  in  the  early  days  of  native  birth ;  sometimes  the  surplus 
from  a  large  family  in  the  neighborhood;  sometimes  men  of 
family  who  rented  small  houses,  to  be  found  in  every  neigh- 
borhood, and  "worked  out,"  by  day  or  month,  earning  from 
twelve  and  a  half  to  twenty  dollars  a  month,  and  he  usually 
kept  a  cow  and  pig ;  raising  potatoes  enough  to  carry  him 
through  the  season,  while  the  cow  was  pastured  on  the  high- 
way in  the  summer,  and  perhaps  let  out  to  a  farmer  for  the 
winter  for  her  keeping.  The  potatoes  were  usually  raised 
on  land  cultivated  on  shares,  the  work  being  done  after  a 
hard  day's  work.  As  we  have  noticed  in  another  chapter, 
most  of  the  food  used  in  the  farmer's  home  came  from  the 


53^  -A.  History  of  Connecticut 

farm  or  the  neighboring  lake,  river,  Sound  or  forest,  and  on 
the  roof  which  flattened  out  over  the  lean-to  sliced  apples, 
whortleberries,  blueberries  and  nuts  were  dried.  Under  the 
oven  was  a  recess  for  the  dye-pot,  for  the  housewife  did  her 
own  dyeing,  coloring  cloth,  stockings  and  mittens.  Most 
of  the  dyestuffs  came  from  the  farm,  butternut  bark  making 
a  brownish  yellow,  the  bark  of  a  yellow  oak  making  a  yellow 
that  was  nearly  fast  color,  indigo  weed  a  blue  that  would  run, 
unless  a  small  quantity  ol  indigo  from  the  store  were  mingled 
with  it,  and  poke  berries  making  a  purple.  From  the  field 
of  flax  and  the  back  of  sheep  came  materials  for  summer  and 
winter  clothing;  the  women  usually  making  garments  for 
themselves;  an  itinerant  tailoress  would  spend  a  week  or 
two  in  a  home  and  make  coats,  vests  and  trousers  for  men  and 
boys.  In  winter  the  farmer  usually  wore  two  shirts,  a  white 
and  a  red  one,  both  of  flannel.  The  heavy  boots  made  from 
the  calfskin  and  tanned  near  by,  when  well  filled  with  tallow 
and  lampblack,  defied  mud  and  slush. 

About  the  first  of  April  came  the  busy  season,  which 
lasted,  with  now  and  then  a  breathing-spell,  until  Thanks- 
giving. After  haying,  the  farmer  would  sometimes  leave  the 
stock  to  be  cared  for  by  the  hired  man,  and  taking  his  family 
in  his  oxcart,  go  to  seaside  or  lakeshore  for  a  few  days  of 
fishing  and  clamming.  The  farmer's  wife  needed  to  be  a 
woman  of  physical  vigor,  ingenious  mind,  "good  calculation, " 
energy  and  swift  hand,  for  in  addition  to  preparing  the  meals, 
washing,  ironing,  spinning,  weaving,  making  clothing,  knit- 
ting, mending,  caring  for  children,  often  half  a  score  of  them, 
she  must  make  soap,  butter,  cheese,  pickles,  preserves, 
candles ;  the  lard  must  be  tried  out ;  the  pork  and  beef  must 
be  salted;  sausages  made,  and  the  catechism  sowed  and 
harrowed  in.  In  days  before  clubs  discussed  the  perils 
of  adolescence,  and  balanced  rations  for  hens,  she  had  to 
make  the  boys  mind,  and  the  pullets  lay.  It  was  her  flying 
fingers  that  knit  mittens  and  stockings,  that  washed  the 
dishes,  tended  the  loom  and  rocked  the  cradle. 


A^ricviltvire  539 

The  tools  and  implements  used  on  the  farm  were  of  the 
most  primitive  kind,  and  as  for  machinery,  that  was  mainly 
the  bone  and  muscle  of  the  sturdy  workers.  Hoes  and  spades, 
as  well  as  ploughs,  were  made  by  the  village  blacksmith. 
A  snathe  was  furnished  by  the  limb  of  a  tree,  bent  at  the 
needed  angle,  and  the  scythe  was  bought  where  the  hoe  was. 
The  rifle,  or  whetting-tool,  was  a  bit  of  stone  of  convenient 
shape,  or  a  piece  of  wood  whittled  to  the  convenient  size, 
and  coated  with  a  mixture  of  tallow  and  pulverized  flint. 
Soon  after  sunrise  the  mowers  were  in  the  field,  taking  turns 
in  leading  off  in  their  circles  around  the  grass.  Boys  fol- 
lowed after  the  dew  had  dried,  "spreading  the  swaths," 
and  after  dinner  the  wilted  grass  was  turned  with  forks; 
toward  night  raked  and  cocked,  and  the  second  day  carted 
to  barn  or  stack.  Thunder  showers  were  frequent  in  some 
seasons,  and  these  gave  zest  and  incited  to  speed.  Farmers 
usually  followed  a  method  of  rotation  in  the  raising  of  the 
plain  crops  before  the  days  of  tobacco  and  "truck-farms." 
When  a  field  of  grass  was  "run  out,"  it  was  ploughed  in 
autumn  or  early  spring,  and  corn  planted  on  the  sod;  the 
second  year,  potatoes  were  raised,  after  these  vegetables 
came  into  use;  then  the  land  was  "laid  down"  and  oats, 
barley  or  rye  was  sown  with  the  hayseed.  After  the  grain 
had  been  taken  off,  the  clover,  herd's  grass  and  redtop  ap- 
peared, and  the  number  of  crops  of  hay  depended  on  the 
strength  of  the  soil  and  the  generosity  of  the  top-dressing. 

Before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  in  1861,  farming 
and  manufacturing  were  about  equally  balanced.  At  that 
time  there  was  about  the  same  amount  of  capital,  and  the 
same  number  of  people  employed  in  each  occupation. 
Following  the  war  there  was  a  large  expansion  of  the  manu- 
facturing industries  in  the  state;  large  areas  of  virgin 
soil  were  opened  in  the  west  by  the  rapid  increase  of  railroads, 
and  agriculture  has  suffered  in  consequence.  Of  late  there 
has  been  a  mild  reaction,  and  a  growing  conviction  that  when 
it  is  followed  as  a  business  by  a  man  who  has  some  capital, 


540  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

and  is  so  fortunate  as  to  understand  how  to  farm  intelli- 
gently, farming  is  a  reliable  and  lucrative  occupation.  It 
is  being  studied  carefully  and  scientifically  by  many  of  the 
young  men  at  Storrs  Agricultural  College,  which  was 
founded  in  1879,  and  is  offering  invaluable  opportunities 
to  make  the  most  of  the  soils  and  climate  of  Connecticut  for 
the  production  of  fruits,  grains  and  vegetables  in  the  most 
effective  ways.  Studies  and  practical  work  go  on  together, 
in  the  dairy,  the  potato  patch,  the  cornfield,  the  greenhouse, 
the  orchard  and  the  hennery.  Chemistry,  biology,  the 
influence  of  fertilizers,  chemicals,  intensive  culture,  draining 
and  various  sprays  are  at  work  there  to  bring  into  the  life  of 
plant,  hen,  cow  and  student  the  most  valuable  results;  to 
learn  how  to  develop  hidden  resources,  correct  faults,  and 
apply  brains  to  the  work  of  the  farm.  The  tract  of  six 
hundred  acres  upon  which  the  college  is  located,  is  in  a 
picturesque  country  among  the  beautiful  hills  and  streams 
of  Tolland  County,  and  the  influence  of  the  institution  is  not 
limited  to  the  training  which  it  gives  to  the  students  who 
gather  there,  but  extends  also  to  thousands  of  others,  who, 
through  lectures  and  literature,  share  in  the  skilled  and 
practical  teachings  of  its  professors. 

Other  organizations  in  the  state,  such  as  the  Dairymen's 
Association,  Horticultural  Society,  Market  Gardeners' 
Association  and  others  are  efficient  and  powerful  means  for 
developing  the  resources  of  the  state.  The  spread  of  the 
trolley  and  the  increase  of  automobiles  have  given  a  zest  to 
farming,  bringing  within  the  influence  of  cities  regions  which 
were  formerly  lonely.  Nervous  and  wearied  dwellers  in  the 
city,  wealthy  business  men  and  discontented  workers  in 
shop  or  store  vie  with  thrifty  Swede,  Italian  and  Pole  to 
own  and  till  valleys  and  hillsides,  which  have  long  furnished 
healthful  though  scanty  livelihood  to  the  settlers  and  their 
descendants.  Of  late,  the  unrest  among  farmers  has  been 
Owing  to  the  lure  of  the  city  which  has  called  away  the  boys, 
the  spread  of  the  enemies  of  vegetation,  and  the  greater 


A.gricvilt\ire  54^ 

cost  of  living  through  multiplying  pleasures  and  luxuries. 
During  the  past  ten  years  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the 
population  of  the  state  of  twenty-two  and  seven-tenths,  and 
a  decrease  of  five  and  five-tenths  per  cent  in  farm  land. 
Farm  property  has  increased  more  than  forty  per  cent, 
in  value,  and  more  than  half  the  increase  is  in  the  value  of 
buildings,  live  stock,  and  machinery.  There  was  a  contin- 
uous increase  in  the  number  of  farms  from  1850,  to  1880, 
followed  by  a  net  decrease  during  the  past  thirty  years.  The 
acreage  of  improved  farm  land  decreased  seventy-six 
thousand  acres  in  the  ten  years  ending  with  1910.  The 
Connecticut  farm  averaged  one  hundred  and  six  acres  in 
1850,  and  eighty-one  acres  in  19 10.  The  average  value  of  a 
farm  in  19 10,  including  equipment,  was  nearly  five  thousand 
dollars,  or  one  and  a  half  times  greater  than  in  1850,  and 
the  average  value  of  farm  lands  in  19 10,  was  thirty-three 
dollars  an  acre.  During  the  last  ten  years  the  value  of  land 
and  buildings  per  acre  has  increased  twenty-one  dollars, 
and  the  value  of  implements,  machinery  and  live  stock  is 
nearly  twice  as  great  as  sixty  years  ago.  In  19 10,  nearly 
eighty-four  per  cent,  of  the  farms  were  operated  by  owners. 
Of  the  23,234  farms  owned  in  whole  or  in  part  by  the 
operators  in  19 10,  the  number  mortgaged  was  forty-three 
and  two-tenths  per  cent.,  a  slight  increase  from  1900,  and 
a  large  increase  from  1890,  but  this  is  more  than  offset  by  the 
increase  in  the  value  of  farms.  In  1 9 1  o,  three  out  of  every  four 
farmers  were  native  whites,  and  of  the  6861  foreign-born 
white  farmers,  Germany  furnished  over  thirteen  hundred,  Ire- 
land over  eleven  hundred,  Russia  and  Sweden  over  six  hundred 
apiece,  England  and  Austria  over  five  hundred  each,  and  Italy 
over  three  hundred.  There  has  been  an  increase  in  the  value 
of  poultry  of  fifty-three  and  five-tenths  per  cent,  in  ten  years. 
The  total  value  of  farm  crops  in  1909,  was  nearly  twenty- 
two  and  a  half  million  dollars,  an  increase  of  thirty-five 
per  cent,  in  ten  years,  ovving  largely  to  the  advance  in 
prices.     Hay  was  the  most  valuable  crop,  being  eight  times 


542  A.  History  of  Connecticut 

greater  than  corn  and  sixty  per  cent,  greater  than  tobacco. 
Corn  had  double  the  acreage  of  potatoes  and  ten  per  cent, 
less  value.  Orchard  fruits  increased  in  value  nearly  a  mil- 
lion and  a  third  dollars  in  ten  years  from  1900,  to  19 10.  Over 
two-thirds  of  the  farmers  employ  labor,  and  the  average 
expense  in  1909,  was  three  hundred  and  eighty- three  dollars. 

No  more  intelligent,  enthusiastic  and  energetic  men  can 
be  found  in  any  other  calling  than  are  seen  on  the  dairy, 
fruit  and  market-gardening  farms  of  this  state.  The  whole 
civilized  world  is  ransacked  for  pure-bred  stock,  the  most 
valuable  seeds,  the  most  productive  and  the  choicest  trees; 
the  most  successful  methods  of  releasing  the  richness  of 
the  soil,  and  developing  the  varied  and  enticing  resources  of 
valley  and  hillside,  are  studied  with  eagerness  and  patience. 
Prophetic  was  the  coming  into  Hartford  County  in  1846, 
of  twelve  of  the  best  cows  John  A.  Taintor  could  find  on  the 
island  of  Jersey.  Other  breeds.  Brown  Swiss,  Guernseys, 
Durhams,  Devons,  Ayrshires,  Holsteins  and  Dutch,  came 
in  to  supplant  or  improve  the  plain  grade  cattle;  study, 
balanced  rations  and  greater  care  have  produced  decided 
changes  in  the  dairy  interests  of  the  state.  The  publications 
of  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  Station  at  New  Haven, 
Storrs  College  and  the  Yale  School  of  Forestry  are  doing 
much  to  develop  and  conserve  the  wealth  of  field,  orchard, 
forest  and  dairy.  A  state  forester,  authorized  by  the  Forestry 
Act  of  1903,  to  protect  and  cultivate  trees  for  the  benefit  of 
the  state,  is  also  ready  to  advise  private  owners  as  to  the 
treatment    and    preservation    of    woodlands. 

From  early  times  tobacco  has  been  cultivated  in  Connecticut, 
and  as  early  as  1765,  it  was  exported  to  England  from  Suf- 
field.  Since  that  time  many  farmers  in  the  state  have  devoted 
thought  and  incessant  care  to  the  task  of  producing  the 
finest  results.  Experts  from  the  Agricultural  Department 
at  Washington  have  made  a  thorough  study  of  local  con- 
ditions, and  have  greatly  assisted  in  improving  types  and 
methods  of  production.     Farmers  in  the  Connecticut  Valley 


-Agricxxlture  543 

have  had  such  confidence  in  the  excellence  of  their  tobacco, 
that  they  have  endured  disappointments  from  drought,  frost, 
wind,  hail,  and  low  prices;  they  have  petted  their  crops  like 
an  only  child;  they  have  screened  them  with  snowy  canvas 
shields ;  they  have  fought  insect  pests  with  untiring  patience, 
and  many  of  them  have  gained  a  competence  as  the  result. 
So  skillful  is  the  culture  of  the  crop  that  it  can  be  raised  year 
after  year  indefinitely  on  the  same  land  with  no  diminution 
of  production,  which  will  range  from  one  thousand  to  two 
thousand  five  hundred  pounds  to  the  acre.  The  broad-leaf 
and  Havana  seed-leaf  wrappers  are  favorite  varieties,  which, 
excepting  the  Florida  growth  from  Sumatra,  give  the  nearest 
approach  to  the  Sumatra.  With  increase  of  towns  and 
quick  transportation,  market-gardening  has  come  to  be  a 
lucrative  and  attractive  form  of  farming.  The  variety  of 
vegetables  raised  would  be  a  marvel  to  Roger  Sherman. 
The  coming  of  men  of  many  nationalities  has  created  changes 
in  productions.  Tomatoes,  egg-plant,  celery,  cauliflower, 
kale,  dandelions,  asparagus,  radishes,  lettuce,  cucumbers 
and  onions  are  among  the  products  of  the  skillful  market- 
gardener,  whose  Association  advances  his  knowledge  and 
protects  his  interests.  Connecticut  is  coming  to  be  famous 
for  its  fruit.  The  boom,  which  is  enticing  large  capital  to  the 
irrigated  lands  of  the  far  West,  has  not  yet  struck  modest  and 
wary  Connecticut,  where  the  people  are  learning  that  the 
hills  of  the  state  can  produce  apples  unparalleled  in  the  world 
for  quantity  and  flavor.  Nearly  three  million  peach  trees 
are  growing  in  her  orchards,  and  in  peach-production  she 
ranks  next  to  Georgia  and  Maryland  among  the  Atlantic 
states.  The  development  of  farming  interests  is  promoted 
by  good  roads,  in  which  the  state  has  been  active  for  fifteen 
years. 

Agricultural  papers  distribute  a  gentle  rain  of  intelligence 
about  insecticides,  fungicides,  butter-fat,  balanced  rations, 
dust-mulch  and  trap-nests.  Farmers'  institutes  pour  forth 
a  torrent  of  information  about  planting  potatoes  and  com, 


544  -A.  History  of  Connecticxit 

infecting  the  soil  with  lively  nitrogen,  killing  pernicious 
bacteria,  and  under-draining.  He  who  runs  may  read  how 
to  spray  to  death  every  known  scale,  bug,  moth  and  blight. 
Granges  in  every  live  town  tell  how  to  make  a  garden,  raise 
flowers,  keep  the  wife  happy  and  the  boy  contented  on  the 
farm,  defy  high  prices  and  smile  blandly  at  millionaires. 
The  adventurous  youth  learns  how  to  select  a  rooster  that 
sings  the  Lay  of  the  Cheerful  Leghorn.  Seed  companies 
distribute  pamphlets,  with  pictures  of  melons,  cucumbers, 
and  celery,  as  brilliant  as  a  Turner.  Congressmen  flood 
their  constituents  with  seeds  which  come  up  as  well  as 
some  of  their  arguments  go  down.  The  farmer  misses  the 
patient  ox  at  the  agricultural  fair,  but  he  can  enjoy  the 
festive  horse,  and  discover  which  automobile  he  would 
like  to  buy. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  farmer's  boy,  who  was  less 
brilliant  than  the  others,  was  booked  for  the  ministry,  if 
solemn  and  pale,  and  for  the  farm  if  industrious.  Now, 
brains  are  demanded,  trained  and  skillful  minds,  to  make  an 
able  farmer.  It  is  not  enough  to  follow  the  old  paths;  the 
farmer  must  crowd  out  purslane  with  a  twenty-five  cent 
cauliflower ;  raise  a  bunch  of  celery,  where  grew  two  blades 
of  grass;  convert  rainwater  into  lettuce  and  outwit  the 
ingenius  microbe.  The  first  commercial  fertilizer  company 
dates  from  1862;  before  that  the  barnyard  and  cellar,  wood 
ashes  and  a  sprinkling  of  guano  enticed  the  coy  potato,  and 
cheered  the  graceful  corn.  Formerly,  the  farmer's  wife  made 
the  butter;  now  sixty  creameries  in  the  state  release  her 
busy  fingers,  that  she  may  attend  the  pleasant  club,  chat 
through  the  telephone,  or  trolley  to  the  city.  Farming  has 
changed  decidedly  since  1845,  a  convenient  date  to  mark  the 
transition  from  the  older  methods.  It  is  becoming  more  and 
more  a  science.  Wheat,  oats,  rye,  Indian  corn,  and  buck- 
wheat were  raised  in  larger  quantities  in  1800,  than  a  century 
later,  but  hay  has  increased  by  a  third;  garden  vegetables, 
berries,    peaches,    plums,    apples    and    poultry    enlist    the 


-A^ricviltiare  545 

enterprising.  For  a  time,  industrial  activities  drew  away 
many  to  the  factory  and  the  store,  but  a  reaction  has  set  in. 
The  song  of  the  abandoned  farm  has  died  away.  There  are 
few  abandoned  farms;  some  have  passed  into  the  hands  of 
foreigners  who  lay  up  money  where  the  descendants  of  the 
settlers  find  it  hard  to  make  both  ends  meet;  some  have 
been  changed  into  villas  for  nerve-weary  people  from  the 
cities;  some  are  managed  with  success  by  men  of  brains  and 
means. 

Brains  and  enterprise  have  always  been  at  a  premium 
in  agriculture,  and  there  never  was  a  time  when  the  farmer 
was  not  compelled  to  stand  guard  against  numberless 
enemies;  in  the  early  years  crows,  blackbirds,  wolves,  foxes, 
and  numberless  other  animals  were  bold  and  hungry;  in 
1666,  the  caterpillar  and  canker  worm  appeared;  trees  were 
tarred  to  arrest  this  pest;  in  1770,  the  palmer  worm  came, 
attacking  rye,  wheat,  and  grass.  We  find  record  of  the  peach 
worm  and  how  to  treat  it  over  one  hundred  years  ago,  also 
of  the  white  grub  in  corn,  meadow  and  pasture,  while  a 
blast  would  often  strike  wheat  and  rye. 

There  was  a  decline  of  interest  in  the  quiet  farm  after 
the  war,  when  inflation  touched  the  brain ;  when  the  humble 
plow  seemed  slow  compared  with  the  charge  of  artillery; 
and  the  whirr  of  machinery  more  entrancing  than  the  whet- 
ting of  a  scythe  or  the  chug  of  a  hoe.  There  was  a  glamour 
about  city  life,  which  caught  the  ambitious  and  the  restless, 
but  a  movement  the  other  way  is  discerned  which  is  as  rapid 
and  strong  as  might  be  expected  in  this  land  of  steady  habits. 
The  spread  of  the  electrics,  telephones,  and  good  roads, 
together  with  the  tidings  of  the  trials  of  city  wage-earners, 
which  float  into  the  country,  are  encouraging  the  farmers 
to  continue  to  till  the  soil,  and  their  prosperity  is  suggested 
by  the  fact  that  hundreds  of  them  are  buying  touring-cars, 
and  the  percentages  of  mortgages  which  make  the  feat 
possible  is  no  larger  in  country  than  in  city.  Then  too  the 
experience  of  many  in  the  West,  in  mines,  business  and  agri- 


546  A  History  of  Connecticxit 

culture  has  led  to  the  opinion  in  some  minds  that  if  people 
are  willing  to  deny  themselves  the  comforts  of  life  in  the 
East  as  they  are  often  forced  to  do  in  the  West,  they  will 
find  a  modest  El  Dorado  near  home. 


p^sss^--p 


Bear  Mountain,  Salisbury,  2354  feet  high — the  Highest  Point  in  Connecticut 


The  Connecticut  State  Flag 
This  is  the  Connecticut  State  Flag,  as  decided  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
1897.     It  is  of  azure  blue,  with  shield  of  argent  white,  leaves  and  fruit  in  their 
natural  colors.     The  dimensions  are  five  feet  and  six  inches  by  four  feet  and 
four  inches. 


CHAPTER  XL 
THE  CITY 

THE  changes  taking  place  in  Connecticut  since  the  pio- 
neers toiled  wearily  over  the  Indian  trails  to  the  Great 
River,  and  the  agricultural  life  into  which  they  plunged  are  no- 
where else  more  vividly  suggested  than  in  the  multiplication  of 
the  larger  towns  and  cities  with  their  varied  problems.  Until 
the  Revolution  there  were  only  towns,  and  in  1784,  thirty- 
eight  years  before  the  incorporation  of  Boston,  the  General 
Assembly  incorporated  the  cities  of  Hartford,  New  Haven, 
New  London,  Norwich,  and  Middletown,  although  neither 
of  them  had  a  population  of  five  thousand,  and  police, 
waterworks,  fire  companies,  sewers  and  parks  were  still  in 
the  future.  The  mayor  had  no  salary,  though  as  judge  of 
the  City  Court  he  drew  two  dollars  a  day  until  1802,  when 
his  pay  was  increased  to  three  dollars  and  a  half.  For  fifty 
years  the  two  duties  of  the  mayor  were  to  preside  over  the 
Common  Council  and  to  act  as  judicial  magistrate.  In  1836, 
his  judicial  powers  were  taken  away,  and  about  that  time 
he  was  made  peace  officer;  in  1844,  the  Hartford  charter  was 
amended  to  give  the  mayor  authority  to  punish  resistance 
to  law  and  abuse  of  authority,  and  in  1842,  the  charter  of 
New  Haven  was  changed  by  the  addition  of  an  important 
amendment,  which  has  since  been  embodied  in  every  other 
city  charter  in  the  state,  making  the  mayor  conservator  of 
the  peace,  and  as  the  chief  executive,  qualified  to  suppress 
disorder  by  calling  on  the  police  or  private  citizens.   Hartford 

547 


54^  A.  History  of  Connectic\it 

was  the  first  city  in  the  state  to  confer  the  veto  power,  and 
this  was  done  in  1859.  For  more  than  half  a  century  the 
council  system  prevailed,  and  in  i860,  New  Haven  intro- 
duced the  method  of  boards  of  finance,  health,  police,  fire, 
parks,  water,  library  and  education. 

The  Census  Bureau  defines  the  urban  population  as 
that  in  cities  or  other  incorporated  places  of  twenty-five 
hundred  inhabitants  or  more,  and  in  19 10,  there  were 
seventy-two  such  towns,  with  ten  and  three-tenths  per  cent, 
only  in  rural  territory.  Moreover  some  of  the  people  in  the 
rural  districts  have  a  comparatively  easy  access  to  cities 
through  the  trolleys  or  steam  roads.  Connecticut  has  eigh- 
teen cities,  and  seven  of  these  have  a  population  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  or  more.  New  Haven,  the  largest  city,  has  a 
population  of  over  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand, 
and  Bridgeport  over  one  hundred  and  two  thousand.  In- 
habitants in  rural  territory  in  1890,  were  sixteen  and  five- 
tenths  of  the  whole  population ;  in  1910,  ten  and  three-tenths, 
showing  a  substantial  drift  to  the  city.  In  the  last  ten 
years  the  population  of  the  larger  towns  increased  much 
more  rapidly  than  in  the  smaller  towns — those  over  twenty- 
five  thousand  and  under  one  hundred  thousand,  thirty-one 
and  six-tenths  per  cent,;  towns  between  twenty-five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  thousand  nineteen  and  six-tenths 
per  cent.,  while  the  rural  population  was  practically  station- 
ary. It  appears  also  that  of  the  total  increase  in  the  state 
in  the  last  decade,  three-fifths  was  in  towns  of  over  twenty- 
five  thousand  inhabitants. 

Of  the  total  population  in  1910,  of  1,114,766,  thirty-five 
and  five-tenths  per  cent,  were  native  whites  of  native  parent- 
age ;  thirty- three  and  six- tenths  per  cent,  were  native  whites  of 
foreign  or  mixed  parentage;  twenty-nine  and  five-tenths  per 
cent,  of  foreign-born  whites,  and  one  and  four-tenths  per 
cent,  of  negroes.  Of  the  urban  population  thirty -one  and 
one-tenth  per  cent,  are  native  whites  of  native  parentage, 
and  of  the  rural  fifty-six  and  four-tenths  per  cent. ;  the  per- 


The  City  549 

centage  of  foreign-born  whites  was  thirty  and  six-tenths 
in  the  urban  and  twenty  and  one-tenth  in  the  rural  popula- 
tion. Another  fact  to  be  borne  in  mind  is  that  for  many 
years  the  excess  of  deaths  over  the  births  of  the  native  Amer- 
icans of  the  state  is  almost  three  thousand  annually,  accord- 
ing to  the  Bureau  of  Vital  Statistics.  In  view  of  the 
above  figures  which  show  a  more  rapid  change  in  the  cities 
than  in  the  country  from  native  to  foreign-born,  it  appears 
that  the  cities  are  becoming  peopled  to  a  considerable  extent 
by  the  foreign-born.  This  does  not  necessarily  call  for 
anxiety  regarding  the  commonwealth,  for  many  of  the  best 
citizens  were  born  in  Europe,  and  the  teachers  in  our  public 
schools  assure  us  that  in  regularity  of  attendance,  eagerness 
to  learn,  and  brain  power,  the  children  of  the  foreign-born 
hold  their  own  v/ith  the  Connecticut  Yankees. 

As  noted  elsewhere,  the  water  power,  seaports,  nearness 
to  New  York  and  Boston  and  railroad  facilities  have  en- 
couraged manufacturing  in  the  state,  so  that,  while  in  1849, 
there  were  fifty  thousand  employed  in  manufacturing, 
in  1909,  there  were  more  than  two  hundred  and  ten  thousand 
so  engaged.  Bridgeport,  the  foremost  city  of  the  state  in 
manufactures,  shows  an  increase  in  1909,  as  compared  with 
1904,  of  forty-seven  per  cent,  in  value  of  products  and  thirty- 
two  per  cent,  in  average  number  of  wage-earners,  ranking 
thirty-third  in  1909,  in  the  country  in  value  of  products. 
New  Haven,  the  second  city  in  the  state  in  value  of  products, 
increased  from  1904,  to  1909,  nearly  twenty-nine  per  cent, 
in  value  of  goods  manufactured.  Waterbury  showed  an 
increase  of  over  fifty-five  per  cent,  in  the  value  of  the  products 
from  1904,  to  1909,  and  the  increase  of  Hartford  in  those  five 
years  in  value  of  products  was  over  fifty-six  per  cent.  Nor- 
wich with  her  large  textile  industries  increased  nearly  fifty- 
six  per  cent,  in  her  products  in  the  five  years,  and  New  Britain 
made  the  greatest  gain  in  number  of  wage-earners — thirty- 
four  and  two-tenths  per  cent.  In  another  chapter  the  details 
of  the  manufactures  are  given  in  greater  fullness,  but  it  is 


550  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

fitting  to  note  here  that  during  the  five  years  from  1904,  to 
1909,  there  was  a  considerable  increase  in  the  relative  import- 
ance of  the  state  as  measured  by  the  value  of  the  products 
of  the  largest  establishments.  This  emphasizes  the  fact 
that  in  this  manufacturing  state  there  is  a  natural  massing 
of  the  population  in  cities.  There  are  conditions,  which  the 
modern  city,  especially  the  factory  town,  has  introduced 
which  are  serious.  The  bringing  together  into  a  compact 
civic  life  of  large  masses  of  people  to  work  in  shops  and  live 
willingly  or  unwillingly  in  a  herded  manner  introduces 
possibilities  of  peril  to  the  home.  How  can  five  boys  and 
girls,  sharing  with  their  parents  two  or  three  rooms,  find 
decent  conditions  for  home  life?  The  manufactory  town 
is  composed  of  a  more  changeful  population  than  the  country 
town ;  business  in  some  particular  line  flourishes  and  declines ; 
wage  conditions  vary;  men  go  whither  they  can  make  the 
most  money ;  many  unmarried  men  drift  from  town  to  town, 
and  this  tends  to  foster,  especially  in  the  unprincipled,  lack 
of  interest  in  home  life,  and  too  often  social  conditions  which 
tend  to  immorality. 

The  city  abounds  in  appeals  to  the  pocketbook,  and  thus 
threatens  a  needful  thrift;  it  offers  a  variety  of  entertain- 
ments, musical,  theatrical,  pictorial,  ranging  in  price  from  a 
nickel  to  two  dollars.  All  this  reminds  us  that  a  new  age  is 
upon  us,  and  more  sturdy  wills  are  needed  to  keep  the  people 
sound,  pure,  economical  and  self -controlled,  than  in  sim- 
pler times.  The  foods  offered,  the  multiplying  delicacies 
from  all  lands,  from  hothouse  and  the  skillful  artist  of  sugar, 
chocolate,  fruits  and  nuts;  the  cooling  drinks,  the  delicious 
ices,  the  toothsome  vegetables,  the  attractive  store  windows 
with  articles  and  prices  to  match  taste  and  every  pocket 
except  the  empty  one;  the  changing  fashions,  the  fascinat- 
ing automobile,  the  temptations  to  freedom  between  the 
sexes  where  men  and  women  are  away  from  home  in  dreary 
boarding  houses ;  the  shrinking  from  marriage  because  of  the 
cost  of  rents  and  living,  and  the  ever  increasing  expensive- 


TKe  City  551 

ness  of  the  home,  all  these  things  suggest  to  the  considerate 
possible  dangers,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we  have 
yet  to  see  whether  native  and  foreign-born  people  will 
be  as  skillful  in  continuing  our  institutions  as  the  Puritan 
fathers  were  in  establishing  them.  Then  too  the  employ- 
ment of  men  and  women  in  close  proximity  to  one  another 
in  many  establishments  has  a  tendency  to  promote  looseness 
of  conduct,  and  is  apt  to  be  hostile  to  manners  and  morals, 
leading  to  temptations  unknown  a  century  and  a  half  ago. 
The  going  of  so  many  young  people  of  both  sexes  away  from 
the  wholesome  influences  and  restraints  of  country  life  to 
the  loud,  gaudy  atmosphere  and  attractions  of  the  city, 
streets  and  cheap  theatres ;  the  cleavage  between  the  classes ; 
the  business  conditions  that  narrow  to  a  hair  the  margin 
between  wage  and  the  necessities  of  life;  the  glitter  of  the 
saloon  and  the  lure  of  the  concert  hall,  all  suggest  a  new  age 
and  new  problems,  calling  for  new  organizations,  wise  pro- 
visions, large  outlay  and,  perhaps,  radical  changes  in,  the 
whole  economic  life.  When  the  country  embraced  nearly 
all  the  population  the  young  people  were  kept  busy  at  home, 
when  out  of  school.  There  was  enough  to  do  in  kitchen, 
barn,  and  on  the  land  for  hand  and  mind;  but  the  city  boy 
has  no  wood  to  chop,  no  chickens  to  feed,  no  cows  to  milk, 
and  it  is  a  far  more  difficult  undertaking  to  bring  up  a  family 
of  children  in  the  city  than  it  was  in  the  country;  requiring 
more  judgment,  inventiveness  and  character  to  guide  aright 
the  young  people  who  live  in  a  whirl  of  temptations. 
When  the  time  for  marrying  approaches,  the  high  rent,  re- 
duced physical  strength  of  women  and  the  calls  of  society, 
requiring  the  employment  of  servants,  together  with  the 
attractions  of  the  clubs,  embarrass  with  a  flood  of  difficulties 
of  which  Governor  Trumbull  did  not  dream.  Then  too  the 
social  unrest  is  more  acute  in  the  city  than  in  the  country, 
as  opportunity  for  debate  and  exciting  appeals  is  ampler 
there  than  among  the  pleasant  hills.  Novel  ideas, 
untried  paths,  pictures,  stories,  newspapers  of  every  grade. 


552  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

the  ever  present  saloon,  all  this,  without  anchorage  in  a 
good  home,  makes  the  modern  city  a  problem  to  the  wise, 
and  a  peril  to  the  thoughtless  and  inexperienced. 

To  offset  this  gloomy  view  it  should  be  said  that  the  city 
encourages  ability  and  fosters  skill  to  meet  difficult  situations. 
The  increasing  wealth  in  the  larger  places  furnishes 
means  to  build  institutions  to  promote  intelligence  and  men- 
tal training,  unknown  a  hundred  years  ago.  Inventiveness, 
energy,  and  combinations  of  earnest  and  far-sighted  men  are 
stimulated  in  a  wide-awake  city  to  match  and  overcome  the 
ingenious  and  glittering  appeals  from  the  underworld. 
There  are  dangers  everywhere,  and  there  are  nests  of  iniquity 
in  the  country,  away  from  the  police,  where  corruption  as 
demoralizing  and  vice  as  horrible  as  in  city  slum  are  practiced. 
In  some  ways  it  is  as  difficult  to  keep  young  people  pure  and 
high-minded  in  the  urban  village  as  in  the  city,  where  keen 
and  resolute  minds  are  organized  for  good  as  others  are  for 
evil.  Decided  changes  are  taking  place  in  the  cities,  which 
are  outgrowing  their  petty  rivalries;  are  becoming  rich 
in  schools,  libraries,  museums,  associations  and  parks,  and 
also  in  a  noble  civic  pride,  prophetic  of  better  days. 


CHAPTER  XLI 
THE  OLD  CONNECTICUT  AND  THE  NEW 

IN  shaping  the  impressions  of  this  history  of  two  hundred 
and  eighty  years,  the  first  thing  to  have  in  mind  is  the  fact 
that  Connecticut  developed  in  America  under  the  singularly 
favorable  influence  of  an  idea,  which  had  for  centuries  been 
struggling  to  rise  into  action,  that  government  is  of  law  and 
not  of  men.  This  state  wrought  into  her  institutions  the  prin- 
ciples which  had  been  seeking  for  centuries  to  gain  free  play  in 
England ;  being  peculiarly  favored  in  her  location,  settlers  and 
charter  for  the  further  development  of  a  government  by  the 
people,  toward  which  the  English  constitution  had  long  been 
working.  Provincial  pride  ought  not  to  foster  the  delusion 
that  our  lauded  government  is  a  pure  product  of  America. 

Another  fact  to  remember  is  that  the  settlers  of  Con- 
necticut did  not  come  hither  to  establish  a  free  republic,  but 
a  religious  commonwealth,  in  which  there  should  be  a  close 
union  of  church  and  state.  While  the  colonists  on  the 
Connecticut  River  were  a  little  less  rigid  than  some  other 
New  Englanders,  for  nearly  two  centuries,  Connecticut  clung 
to  the  principle  that  church  and  state  are  one.  A  clear  view 
of  this  fact  enables  one  the  easier  to  pardon  some  things, 
which  might  otherwise  be  classed  with  bigotry,  and  to  treat 
with  charity  lingering  influences  of  mediceval  narrowness  and 
severity. 

The  third  fact  to  emphasize  in  this  review  is  the  vitality 
of  the  institutions,  resting  on  the  principle  of  government  by 

553 


554  -A  History  of  Connecticvit 

law,  and  working  themselves  free.  The  Connecticut  system 
has  been  found  to  be  workable,  and  when  the  people  see  that 
it  will  not  go  in  one  way,  they  set  their  common  sense  to  the 
task  of  discovering  how  it  will  go.  The  settlers  were  pos- 
sessed with  three  principles:  accountability  to  God,  service 
and  a  high-minded  optimism.  When  the  Massachusetts 
Court  of  Assistants  in  1630-34,  slighted  the  towns  in  the 
new  government,  Cambridge,  Dorchester  and  Watertown 
saw  that  they  could  not  have  due  recognition  without 
conflict,  and  that  there  was  a  place  on  the  Connecticut  River 
where  they  could  get  a  living,  they  determined  to  move. 
Able  as  were  Roger  Sherman,  Samuel  Johnson  and  Oliver 
Ellsworth,  their  influence  in  the  constitutional  convention 
of  1787,  would  have  been  as  the  whisper  of  a  child,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  fact  that  they  went  to  that  convention  with  all 
the  weight  of  a  century  and  a  half  of  experience  in  the 
institutions  of  Connecticut.  The  representative  democracy, 
which  had  worked  so  well  and  so  long  in  this  colony,  found 
a  clear  voice  in  those  strong  men,  who  could  stand  among  con- 
flicting minds  and  tell  what  their  history  had  taught  them. 

In  the  early  years  there  was  needed  the  positive  influ- 
ence of  religion  to  hold  together  the  young  commonwealth 
amid  threatening  dangers,  but  when  the  constitution  of  18 18, 
was  adopted,  a  new  era  opened. 

The  old  order  changeth,  yielding  place  to  new, 

And  God  fulfils  Himself  in  many  ways, 

Lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the  world. 

The  vitality,  the  common  sense  of  the  Connecticut  idea  as 
a  government  of  the  people  by  law  developed  institutions 
to  meet  new  conditions.  There  has  always  been  a  fair 
mixture  of  the  progressives  and  the  conservatives,  though 
the  latter  have  usually  been  in  the  majority.  Town  meet- 
ings and  church  meetings  have  often  suggested  the  line, 

On  Jordan's  stormy  banks  I  stand. 


XKe  Old  Conneciticut  and  tHe  Ne-w        555 

Men  of  decided  convictions,  deep-seated  prejudices,  and  out- 
spoken loyalty  to  their  principles  have  fought  out  their 
battles  through  heated  debate,  in  which  aggressive  personal- 
ities were  developed,  caustic  speech  indulged  in,  and  sharp 
controversy  maintained,  but  there  has  been  a  remarkable 
sobriety  of  judgment  and  steadiness  of  purpose,  due  in  large 
measure  to  the  soundness,  foresight,  and  courage  of  Hooker, 
Winthrop,  Haynes,  Ludlow,  Eaton,  Trumbull,  and  Sherman. 
A  measure  of  stability  was  given  to  the  young  common- 
wealth by  the  excessive  jealousy  of  the  towns  over  their 
rights,  though  the  action  sometimes  taken  would  now  be 
intolerance.  This  appears  in  the  treatment  of  the  Tories, 
who  were  struck  with  a  heavy  hand  in  that  life-and-death 
struggle  for  existence.  In  the  same  line  was  the  legislation 
concerning  strangers,  who  might  bring  in  undesirable  ele- 
ments or  become  an  expense  to  a  town.  The  treatment  of 
Quakers  was  not  cordial,  though  milder  than  in  Massa- 
chusetts, but  in  this  colony  they  were  advised  to  move  on. 
Sturdiness  of  character,  abundant  nerve  and  readiness  to 
stand  together  to  the  end  in  behalf  of  the  institutions  of  the 
state,  have  fostered  a  conservatism,  which  easily  drifts  into 
self-satisfaction,  and  even  an  unwillingness  to  admit  that 
the  old  is  not  good  enough.  The  witchcraft  craze  and  slave 
folly  are  not  brilliant  examples  of  sound  judgment,  but  the 
stern  repression  of  debate,  stiff  opposition  to  new  ideas  and 
stern  hostility  to  a  more  balmy  theology,  which  led  to  violent 
upheavals  and  bitter  controversies  elsewhere,  had  slight  hold 
in  Connecticut,  which  has  been  willing  to  be  laughed  at  for  its 
"steady  habits"  and  "blue  laws, "  because  it  knew  that  while 
it  was  tenacious  of  the  old  ways,  and  positive  in  its  loyalty 
to  Puritan  convictions,  it  was  friendly  to  truth,  and  though 
not  emotional,  it  was  not  sentimental.  It  has  been  broad- 
ened and  liberalized  by  great  thinkers;  has  patiently  stood 
in  its  lot;  has  avoided  the  corner;  has  not  advertised  its 
victories,  or  exploited  its  virtues,  and  when  men  of  sense  and 
courage  were  called  for,  has  been  ready.     Its  history  has  been 


556  A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

neither  brilliant  nor  picturesque;  plain  homespun  has 
been  good  enough.  It  has  smiled  cheerfully  when  twitted 
for  the  craft  of  the  "Connecticut  Yankee,"  knowing  that 
its  productions  would  not  have  circled  the  globe,  and  its 
machinery  have  stood  the  test  of  competition,  if  its  business 
were  on  the  "wooden  nutmeg"  style. 

No  other  colony  carried  itself  with  greater  wisdom  and 
self-control  toward  a  monarch  like  Charles  II.  There  was 
nothing  frantic  or  scarcely  dramatic  in  its  grasp  on  the 
threatened  charter;  the  action  was  quiet  but  effective.  The 
Andros  situation  seemed  formidable,  but  the  colony  was 
neither  flurried  or  depressed.  Fletcher  came  with  a  commis- 
sion from  the  king  which  threatened  liberty;  a  little 
calm  thinking  and  determined  action  thwarted  him.  The 
Stamp  Act  was  handled  a  little  roughly,  but  with  no  delay, 
and  no  other  colony  was  so  well  prepared  for  the  Revolution, 
or  fought  more  effectively.  Soldiers  from  some  of  the  other 
states  were  earlier  at  the  seat  of  war  in  the  Rebellion,  but 
when  Connecticut  regiments  were  there,  they  were  ready  to 
fire.  The  contest  for  the  boundaries  was  long  and  trying, 
but  the  commonwealth  maintained  its  dignity  and  self- 
respect,  firmly  welded  together  its  resolute  colonies,  avoided 
sudden  catastrophes,  smiled  toward  conservatism,  yielded 
to  progress,  though  sometimes  a  little  late;  discovered 
that  the  golden  mean  between  local  independence  and  public 
control  is  to  have  both.  Steadfast,  sensible,  willing  to  learn ; 
practical,  interested  in  education,  theology,  philanthropy 
and  art;  pouring  much  of  its  richest  life  into  other  states, 
the  older  Connecticut  is  secure  in  its  sturdy  vigor,  its  thor- 
ough manliness,  its  religious  seriousness,  its  devotion  to  a 
pretty  severe  God,  and  an  exacting  self-interest. 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  New  Connecticut?  It  is  too 
early  to  write  its  history,  but  we  can  venture  a  few  things. 
The  state  has  lost  its  homogeneous  character.  The  popula- 
tion increased  from  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand 
in  1700,  to  nine  hundred  and  eight  thousand  in  1900,  with 


TKe  Old  Connecticxit  and  tKe  Ne"w        557 

native-born  Americans  forming  nearly  seventy-four  per 
cent,  at  the  latter  date.  In  19 10,  the  population  had  risen 
to  1,114,766,  with  seventy  and  foiir-tenths  per  cent,  total 
native.  We  learn  from  the  annual  reports  of  the  Bureau 
of  Vital  Statistics  that  from  1901,  to  191 1,  the  excess  of  the 
number  of  deaths  over  the  number  of  births  among  native 
Americans  was  three  thousand  per  year.  Changes  which 
we  hope  will  prove  an  evolution  upward  have  come ;  theology 
has  softened  its  strenuous  appeal ;  stormy  blasts  from  Mount 
Sinai  have  changed  to  zephyrs  from  the  Mountain  of  the 
Beatitudes;  the  stern  imperative  in  home  and  school  has 
lost  its  downward  slide,  or  been  mellowed  into  the  gentle 
subjunctive,  and  the  note  of  authority  is  set  to  music. 
Instead  of  sixteen  offenses  punishable  by  death,  there  is 
barely  one  crime  calling  for  a  death  penalty.  Filthy  and 
barbarous  Newgate  has  been  polished  into  a  summer  resort, 
and  a  reformatory  is  starting,  as  hygienic  as  Yale  University, 
and  in  some  ways  it  promises  to  be  as  well  equipped.  In- 
stead of  punishing  the  demented  as  witches  or  unusually 
endowed  by  the  devil,  they  live  in  pleasant  hospitals  under 
the  finest  medical  skill;  range  over  flowery  lawns,  enjoy 
attractive  entertainments,  and  amid  the  comforts  of  an 
intelligent  age  eat  their  dinners,  while  the  band  soothes  their 
disordered  nerves  with  its  cheerful  strains.  Instead  of  whip- 
ping tramps  from  town  to  town,  or  putting  them  to  hard 
labor  in  a  workhouse,  they  are  kept  fat  and  lazy  with  side- 
door  beneficence. 

Time  must  work  its  marvels  before  the  New  Connecticut 
shall  be  as  effective  a  tonic  to  our  optimism  as  the  Old,  seen 
through  the  enchanting  haze  of  the  past.  Trying  distribu- 
tion of  wealth,  capital  and  labor  in  hostile  camps,  discontent 
with  plain  living,  and  craze  for  speed  will  test  sagacity,  com- 
mon sense  and  institutions  as  sharply  as  did  Indians,  witches, 
slavery  or  English  tyranny.  Plymouth  Rock  can  still  be 
seen  from  the  higher  hills,  but  from  the  smoky  manufacturing 
towns,  degenerate  hamlets,  and  the  haunts  of  vicious  politi- 


55^  -A.  History  of  Connecticvit 

cians,  it  is  a  trifle  indistinct.  Men  of  strange  speech  get  good'. 
livings  where  Puritan  brawn  toiled,  and  many  of  them  are  as 
worthy  of  respect  and  confidence  as  some  of  the  descendants 
of  the  Winthrops  and  Trumbulls.  In  a  school  district  not 
ten  miles  from  Hartford,  after  a  heated  controversy  about 
building  a  new  schoolhouse,  which  the  authorities  said  must 
be  done  to  replace  the  forlorn  monument  of  neglect,  the  vote 
stood  nine  to  six,  and  the  nine  that  voted  for  the  new  building 
were  Italian  landowners;  while  those  in  the  negative  were 
descendants  of  the  Puritans,  men  to  whom  cider  was  dearer 
than  the  education  of  their  children. 

Our  study  of  the  past  of  almost  three  centuries  helps 
guard  against  childish  despondency  over  temporary  dis- 
couragements and  apparent  retreat.  There  has  been  a 
rhythmic  movement  in  moral  and  religious  life;  severity  in 
the  early  years  was  followed  by  decadence  as  the  seventeenth 
century  closed.  Just  before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  Great  Awakening,  under  Edwards  and 
Whitefield,  roused  the  churches  and  stirred  a  fresh  fer- 
vor, which  was  followed  by  a  lapse  of  religious  seriousness 
as  the  Revolution  came  on.  The  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  brought  new  devotion  to  religion,  not  only  to  the 
forms  but  also  to  its  fruitage  in  the  philanthropies  and 
beneficence,  which  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  state 
sprang  into  a  flourishing  growth.  The  Civil  War  with  its 
roar  of  cannon  brought  discord  into  the  rising  music. 
Since  then,  brotherliness  has  become  more  thoughtful,  prac- 
tical and  ingenious  than  ever;  more  patiently  responsive 
to  human  need.  In  this  age  of  reform,  amid  the  ever  rising 
problems  of  our  complex  life,  there  is  far  more  of  friendliness, 
generosity  and  self-sacriflce  for  humanity  than  in  the  earlier 
years.  There  are  many  who  mourn  the  passing  of  the 
"Good  old  Times,"  but,  as  we  have  seen,  there  were  three 
good  old  times  of  religious  strictness  and  devotion  to  a  stern 
Deity,  with  intervening  decadences.  It  is  too  early  to  reach 
a  balance  in  our  estimate  of  the  recent  years,  but  there  is 


XHe  Old  Connecticxit  and  tKe  Ne"w        559 

far  less  of  quarreling,  strife  and  bitterness  in  the  communities 
and  the  churches.  People  still  cheat  one  another,  but  the 
stigma  resting  on  dishonesty  and  meanness  is  darker  than  a 
hundred  years  ago.  For  nearly  two  centuries  the  pulpit 
proclaimed  that  God  has  given  the  heathen  up  to  "judicial 
blindness  and  hardness  of  heart,"  and  turns  them  into 
a  very  trying  and  protracted  hell,  whereas  now  there  is  less 
agonizing  to  save  ourselves  from  such  disaster,  and  a  mild 
effort  to  rescue  others.  We  may  lament  emptier  meeting- 
houses, but  those  who  are  there  have  not  been  driven  thither 
by  dread  of  fines.  Theology  may  be  less  terrifying  and  the 
Sabbath  less  solemn,  but  there  is  a  serious  grappling  with  the 
great  problems  of  humanity,  unknown  until  the  nineteenth 
century.  Amid  the  ever-rising  questions  of  our  complex  life, 
the  task  of  holding  fast  the  integrity  of  the  commonwealth 
grows  no  easier,  but  as  long  as  the  Puritan  principles  of 
accountability  to  God,  service,  and  a  high-minded  optimism 
control,  the  state  will  continue  to  be  a  solid  bulwark  of 
freedom,  and  the  New  Connecticut  will  nobly  develop  the 
fine  purposes  of  the  early  settlers. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED 

Connecticut  Archives  at  the  State  Library: 

a.  Industry,  2  vols. 

b.  Trade  and  Maritime  Affairs,  2  vols. 

c.  Crimes  and  Misdemeanors,  6  vols. 
Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut,  15  vols.,  Hartford. 

New  Haven  Colonial  Records,  2  vols.,  Hartford,  1857,  1858. 
Collections  of  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  14  vols.,  Hartford. 
Early  Connecticut  Probate  Court  Records,  C.  W.  Manwaring, 

3  vols.,  Hartford,  1904,  1906. 
New  Haven  Historical  Papers,  2  vols.,  Hartford,  1876,  1880. 
Public  Records  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  2  vols.,   Hartford, 

1876,  1880. 
A  Complete  History  of  Connecticut,  Benjamin  Trumbull,  2  vols., 

New  London,  1898. 
Connecticut  Historical  Collections,  J.  W.  Barber,  New  Haven, 

1836. 
The  History  of  Connecticut,  G.  H.  Hollister,  New  Haven,  1855. 
Connecticut  as  a  Colony  and  as  a  State,  4  vols.,  Editor-in-Chief, 

Forrest  Morgan. 
Publication  Society  of  Connecticut,  Hartford,  1904. 
Connecticut:  A  Study  of  a  Commonwealth-Democracy,  Alexander 

Johnson,  Houghton,  Mifflin  «&  Co.,  1887. 
A  History  of  Connecticut,  Elias  B.  Sanford,  Hartford,  1905. 
General  History  of  Connecticut,  Samuel  Peters,  D.  Appleton  & 

Co.,  New  York,  1877. 
True  Blue  Laws  of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven,  and  the  False 

Blue  Laws,  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  Hartford,  1876. 
The  River  Towns  of  Connecticut,  Charles  M.  Andrews,  Johns 

Hopkins  University,  1889. 
36  561 


562  -AvitKorities  Consviltedi 

The  Secession  of  Springfield,  Simeon  E.  Baldwin,  John  Wilson 

&  Son,  Cambridge,  1908. 
The  Connecticut  and  Gore  Company,  Albert  P.  Bates,  American 

Historical  Reports,  1898. 
History  of   the  Indians  of    Connecticut,   John  W.    deForest, 

Hartford,  1851. 
Art  and  Artists  of  Connecticut,  H.  W.  French,  Boston  and  New 

York,  1879. 
Judicial  and  Civil  History  of  Connecticut,  LooMis  and  Calhoun, 

Boston  Historical  Co.,  1895. 
The  Historical  Development   of   the  Poor   Law   of   Connecticut, 

Edward  W.  Capen,  Columbia  University  Press,  1905. 
History  of  Taxation  in  Connecticut,  idjd-yd,  F.  R.  Jones,  Johns 

Hopkins  Press,  1896. 
Reports  of  Prison  Discipline  Society,  1826-36,  Perkins  &  Marvin, 

Boston. 
History  of  the  Pequot  War,  reprinted  from  Collections  of  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society,  Cleveland,  1897. 
Wadsivorth  on  the  Charter  Oak,  Hartford,  1904. 
The  History  of  Insurance  in   Connecticut,  P.   H.  Woodward, 

Hartford. 
The  Witchcraft  Delusion  in  Colonial  Connecticut,  J.  M.  Taylor, 

Grafton  Press,  N.  Y.,  1908. 
The  Development  of  Religious  Liberty  in  Connecticut,  M.  Louise 

Greene,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1905. 
The  Connecticut  Quarterly  and  Connecticut  Magazine,   12  vols., 

Hartford. 
Travels  in  New  England  and  New  York,  Timothy  Dwight,  4  vols., 

New  Haven,  1821. 
Historic  Gleanings  in    Windham   County,   Ellen   C.   Larned, 

Providence,  1899. 
Some  Aspects  of  the  Religious  Life  of  New  England,  George  L. 

Walker,  Silver,  Burdett  &  Co.,  1897. 
The  Expansion  of  New  England,  Lois  K.  Mathews,  Houghton, 

Mifflin  &  Co.,  1909. 
The  American  Nation:  A  History,  edited  by  A.  B.  Hart,  27  vols.. 

Harpers. 
The  History  of  North  America,  edited  by  Guy  Carlton,  26  vols., 

Geo.  Barrie  &  Son,  Philadelphia. 


-A.\JtKorities  Consxalted  563 

A  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  John  Bach  McMaster, 

5  vols.,  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Critical  History  of  America,  John  Fiske,  Houghton,  Mifflin  & 

Co.,  1891. 
Begififiings  of  New  England,  John  Fiske,   Houghton,   Mifflin 

6  Co.,  1898. 

The  American  Revolution,  John  Fiske,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co., 

1891. 
Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  8  vols.,  Houghton, 

Mifflin  &  Co. 
The  United  States,  Edwin  Wiley  and  Irving  E.  Rines,  ii  vols., 

American  Educational  Alliance,  Washington,  D.  C. 
The  Age  of  Homespun,  Horace  Bushnell,  Hartford,  1851. 
Speech  for  Connecticut,  Estimate  of  the  State,  Horace  Bushnell, 

Hartford,  1851. 
Many  other  works,  such  as  reviews,  biographies,  histories  of 

counties  and  towns,  and  works  of  literature  of  Connecticut 

authorship  have  been  read. 


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MAP  OF 
CONNECTICUT 

TO   ACCOMPANY 
"AHISTORVOF   CONNECTICUT"" 
BY  GEORGE  L-  CLARK 

-TRUNK  LINE  H/aHWAYS  AND    THEIR 

CONNECTING  AUXILIARIES 
-  RAILROADS 


INDEX 


Abigail,  arrival  of  the,  14 
Abolition  Liberty  party,  377 
Academy    of    the    Holy    Family    in 

Baltic,  224 
"Act  of  Indemnity,"  pardon  refused 

by,  164 
Acton  Library  at  Old  Saybrook,  227 
Acts  of  Trade,   English,   applied   to 

colonies,  187 
Adams,  Jeremy,  death  of,  58;  tavern 

of,  255 
Adams,  John,  writes  of  tavern,  256; 
quoted,  294;  clothed  in  Connecticut 
broadcloth,    315;    election    of,    re- 
ferred to,  344;  516 
Adams's  tavern,  Jeremy,  see  Jeremy 

Adams's  tavern 
Addington,    Isaac,    prepares   college 

charter,  229 
Administration  Building  erected,  239 
"Adventurers,"  settling  of  the,  11 
Adventures     of     Tom     Sawyer,     by 

"Mark  Twain,"  509 
j^gean  Sea,  Church's,  521 
^tna,    Accident    and    Liability    Co. 
organized,  410 

Indemnity  Co.  chartered,  412 

Insurance  Annuity  Fund  char- 
tered, 409 

Insurance  Company,  forming  of 

the,  398,  399;  agencies  through 
west,  400;  meets  New  York  losses, 
400;  helps  farmers,  409,  410;  adds 
Annuity  Fund,  409 

Life  Insurance  Co.  started,  409 

Africa,  slave  from,  155,  156 
Agawam,  or   Springfield,  settling   of, 
12;    representatives   of,    56;    joins 
Massachusetts,  57 
Ainsworth,    Rev.    Henry,    a    music 
celebrity,  525 


Albany,  expedition  to,  123;  troops 
go  to,  178;  Connecticut  troops 
defend,  178;  stage  to,  312 

Alcott,  Amos  Bronson,  opens  a  school, 

504 

Alexandria,   Col.  Ellsworth  shot  at, 

384 

Algonkin  Indians,  28;  myth-cycle  of 
the,  33 

Allen,  charter  committed  to,  78 

Allen,  Ethan,  born  in  Litchfield,  199; 
reference  to,  259;  story  about,  265; 
"committee"  sends  money  to,  284 

Allen,  J.  M.,  president  Hartford 
Steam  Boiler  Inspection  Co.,  411 

Allston,  Washington,  Morse  a  pupil 
of,  517;  artistic  genius  of,  518; 
G.  W.  Flagg  a  pupil  of,  519; 
Flagg's  portrait  of,  519 

AUyn  House,  Hartford,  painting  in 
the,  520 

AUyn,  John,  delivers  seal  to  Andros, 
99 :  one  of  special  court,  1 53 ;  favors 
surrender  of  charter,  169;  Ran- 
dolph serves  writs  to,  169;  writes 
"Finis"  on  colonial  records,  171; 
describes  Connecticut  to  English, 

195 

AUyn,  Mrs.  Harriet  V.,  helps  buy 
land,  243 

Alnwick  Castle,  by  Halleck,  502 

Alsop,  Richard,  one  of  "Hartford 
Wits, "  498 

America,  first  mining  company  char- 
ter in,  191;  Higley  makes  first 
steel  in,  191;  first  type  foundry  in, 
194 

American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 
Trumbull  president  of,  516 

American  and  Toleration,  new  party 
called,  348 

American  Asylum  for  Deaf  and 
Dumb,  473 


565 


566 


Index 


American  Chorister,  by  William  Bil- 
lings, 529 

American  Episcopate,  movement  in 
behalf  of,  139,  140;  established, 
141  d  seq. 

American  Jourtial  of  Medical  Science, 
first  published,  247 

American  Journal  of  Science,  Silliman 
starts,  510;  Dana  editor  of,  510 

American  Lands  and  Letters,  by 
Mitchell,  508 

American  Literary  Academy,  Part- 
ridge starts,  242 

American  Mercury,  first  Echo  in,  499 

American  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co. , 
407 

National  Life,  American  Mutual 

merged  into,  407 

American  Poems,  etc.,  by  Smith,  502 

American  Prison  Association,  report 

of,  455 

School  for  Deaf  at  Hartford,  472 

Society    of     Dental    Surgeons, 

Hayden  organizes,  247 

Temperance  Life  Insurance  Co. 

formed,  410;  changed  to  Phoenix 
Mutual  Life,  410 

Ames,  Oliver,  maker  of  cannons,  365 

Amherst  College,  Humphrey  of  Con- 
necticut a  benefactor  of,  246 

Amos,  Hugh,  establishes  first  ferry, 
96 

Amsterdam  Trading  Company 
formed,  5;  ships  of,  sail  the 
Connecticut,    5 

Anarchiad,  published  in  the  Gazette, 
498;  verses  of,  quoted,  499;  epics  in 
the,  500 

Anderson,  Governor  John,  a  negro, 
160 

Andover,  theological  school  at,  370 

Andrews,  Ethan  A.,  First  Lessons 
in  Latin,  by,  220 

Andrews,  Israel  A.,  president  Mari- 
etta College,  245 

Andrews,  Samuel,  new  rector  of 
Yale,  230,  231 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  loses  seal,  99; 
arrives  in  Boston,  168;  brings  new 
writ  from  king,  169;  demands 
charter  of  Assembly,  170;  govern- 
ment of,  171;  confers  with  Bull, 
174;  reference  to,  211;  had  one  of 
early  coaches,  254;  referred  to,  58, 

123,  556 
Anglo-American  Texas,  Austin  maker 

of,  204,  205 
Ansantawae  sells  land  to  English,  35 


Ansonia,    evening    schools    in,    216; 

electric  cars  started  in,  419 
Antietam,    Sixteenth    Regiment    at, 

385;   Mansfield  wounded  at,   385; 

Sedgwick  wounded  at,  390 
Anti-Federalist  party  in  Connecticut, 

342 
Apollo    Club,    Buck    conductor    of, 

533 
Arbor  Day,  Northrop  originates,  225 
Arch  Street,  Hooker's  well  still  in,  13 
Arkwright  of  America,  Brewster  called, 

366 
Arlington,  9 
Arnold,  Benedict,  career  of,  289,  290; 

treachery  of,  290 
Art  School,  founding  of,  237;  valuable 

collection  in  the,  240 
Ashaway,  boundary  through,  177 
Ashford,  first  town  meeting  in,  198; 

Knott  a   native   of,   246;    church 

troubles  at,  273 
Ashland,  205 
Ashurst,  Sir  Henry,  represents,  and 

wins  for  Connecticut,  180 
Aspinwall,     Dr.,     raises     silkworms, 

193,  364 

Assembly,  tax  voted  by  the,  179; 
protests  to  Fletcher,  179;  orders 
money,  319;  charters  bank,  322; 
act  of  toleration  passed  by,  340 

Assistants,  Court  of,  Particular  Court 
becomes,  84;  Superior  Court  super- 
sedes, 85;  indicts  Katheran  Harri- 
son, 150 

Asylum  at  Walnut  Hill,  home  for 
drunkards,  491 

Athenaeum,  Daniel  Wadsworth  gives 
the,  394 

Atlas-Geography,  by  Olney,  220 

Atonement,  Pynchon's  book  on  the, 
121 

Atwood,  Captain,  reference  to,  151 

Auburn  Seminary,  Hickock  a  pro- 
fessor in,  246 

Augur,  Hezekiah,  first  American 
sculptor,  516 

Augur,  Nicholas,  voyage  of,  186 

Austin,  Elijah,  sends  first  ship  to 
China,  204 

Austin,  Moses,  born  in  Durham,  204; 
maker  of  Anglo-American  Texas, 
204;  establishes  mines,  204,  205 

Austin,  Steven,  starter  of  Texas 
colony,  204  et  seq. 

Ayres,  Daniel,  gives  to  Wesleyan,  243 

Ayres,  Mrs.  William,  flees  Connecti- 
cut, 147 


Index 


567 


Babcock,  Adam,  one  of  "committee," 

283  • 
Bachelor  of  Arts,  Yale  makes,  230 
Back-Log  Studies,  by  C.  D.  Warner, 

508 
Backus,  Ebenezer,  iron-works  of,  291 
Backus,  Judge,  Rogerines  sentenced 

by,  142 
Bacon,  witchcraft  in  time  of,  145 
Bacon  Academy  started,  221 
Bacon,    Leonard,    of    the    Divinity 

School,  236;    incorporator  Invalid 

Home,  491 
Baldwin,  Abraham,  founder  of  Uni- 
versity of  Georgia,  246 
Baldwin,  Governor  Sherman,  and  the 

Assembly,  377;  not  elected,  378; 

enters  Senate,  378 
Baldwin,  Simeon  E.,  98 
Balliol  College,  Ludlow  at,  74 
Baltic,  Academy  of  the  Holy  Family 

in,  224 
Baltimore,  Hayden  becomes  dentist 

in,  247 
Bank,    of    New    York,    Wadsworth 

president  of,  393 
of  North  America,  Wadsworth 

founds,  393 
Banks,  beginning  of,  322 
Baptists,  137;  dislike  in  New  England 

for,  139;  freedom  granted  to,  139; 

challenge  Establishment,  142;   in- 
fluence of  "  Great  Awakening  "on, 

274 
Barbadoes,     commerce     with,     186; 

wine  from,  prohibited,  187;  liquor 

from,  487 
Barkhamsted,  reference  to,  258 
Barlow,  Joel,  one  of  "  Hartford  Wits," 

498;  The  Vision  of  Columbus,  by, 

501 
Barnard,    Henry,    head    of    normal 

school,  214;  letter  to,  quoted,  218; 

Journal  of  Education,  by,  225;  helps 

educational  progress,  225;  513 
Barnes,-  Mary,  indicted  as  witch,  149 
Bartholemew,  Edward  S.,  a  sculptor, 

520 
Bartlett,  Robert,  gift  of,  211 
Bass,  Mr.,  pastor  of  Ashford  church, 

273 

Battell,  Robbins,  memorial  to,  534 
Batterson,  James  G.,  starts  Travelers 

Insurance  Co.,  411 
"Battle  Laureate,"  Brownell  called 

our,  507 


Battle  of  the  Frogs,  116 

Bayard,  Colonel,  writes  to  Assembly, 
179 

Bay  Fight,  poem  by  Brownell,  506 

Bay  Path,  famous  Indian  trail,  53; 
Holland  writes  of,  249,  250 

Bay  Psalm  Book  published,  525 

Beach,  Francis,  Colonel  of  Hartford 
Regiment,  385 

Beached  for  Repairs,  painted  by 
Stancliff,  519 

Beacon  Hill,  powder-house  on,  283 

Bear  Mountain,  highest  in  Connecti- 
cut, I 

Beaumarchais  aids  Silas  Deane,  287 

Beecher,  Catharine,  head  of  Hartford 
Seminary,  222 

Beecher,  Edward,  president  Illinois 
College,  246 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  born  in 
Litchfield,  379;  incorporator  In- 
valid Home,  491;  sermons  by,  506 

Beecher,  Lyman,  father  of  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe,  505;  father  of 
Henry  Ward,  506 

Beethoven  Society,  535 

Bellamy,  Joseph,  referred  to,  274; 
born  in  New  Cheshire,  275 

Bellows  Falls,  Peters  writes  of,  95 

Beloit  College,  Chapin  president  of, 
246 

Benedict,  Zadoc,  father  of  hat  man- 
ufacturing, 356 

Bennington,  Warner  settles  in,  199 

Benton,  Andrew,  marries  Ann  Cole, 
148 

Berkeley  Hall  built,  239 

Berkeley,  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  contribu- 
tions to  Yale  from,  232 

Berkeley,    Dean,    beginning    of    art 

by,  514 

Berkeley    Divinity    School,    charter 

granted  to,  245 
Berkeley   Family,    The,   in   the   Yale 

Art  Gallery,  514 
Berlin,  Patersons  settle  in,  190;   196; 

tin  business  at,  308 

Academy  incorporated,  22 1 

Berwick,  on  the  Tweed,  187 
Bethel,  Seelye  native  of,  246 
Betts  Academy  at  Stamford,  223 
Biblical  Researches,  by  Robinson,  510 
Bicentennial  Fund,  raising  of,  239 
Big  Bethel,  Winthrop  killed  at,  384 
Billings,  William,  songs  by,  526,  529  j". 
Birmingham,   J.   B.  Flagg  rector  of, 

519 
Bishop,  Abraham,  Republican  cham- 


568 


Ind 


ex 


Bishop,  Abraham  (Continued) 

pion,  345;  address  by,  345;  quoted, 

345,  346  ,    „       ,  ,. 

Bishop,  Samuel,  Repubhcan  cham- 
pion, 345 

Blackburn,  J.  B.,  a  portrait  pamter, 

519 

Black  Fox  of  Salmon  River,  The,  by 

Brainard,  503 
Black  Hall  School,  at  Lyme,  223 

Hawk,  an  Algonkin  Indian,  28 

Horse  Tavern,  a  famous  tavern, 

255,  256 

Rock,  Tryon  captures,  291 

Blackstone,  witchcraft  in  time  of ,  145; 
quoted,  154 

Blake,  Eli  Whitney,  invents  stone- 
breaker,  262 

Blakeslee,  Erastus,  commander  First 
Cavalry,  390 

Block  Island,  Pequots  conquer,  30 

Blok,  Adrian,  first  explorer  of  Con- 
necticut River,  4;  lands  at  Hart- 
ford, 4;  sails  to  Enfield  Rapids,  4; 
explorations  of,  4  ff.;  maps  made 
from  data  of,  5;  sails  for  Holland, 
5;  referred  to,  29 

Bloomfield,  Prosser  Farm  Cottage  at, 
481 

Bloomingdale  Asylum,  tries  to  get 
Todd,  464 

Blue  Laws  in  Connecticut,  i,  193 
et  seq. 

Body  of  Liberties,  Connecticut  takes 
articles  from,  90 

Bolles,  James,  his  trip  with  Terry,  397 

Book  of  Discipline,  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  131 

Book  of  Distribution,  first  book  of 
records  quoted,  12 

Borden,    condensed    milk    invented, 

365 
Boston,  most  of  settlers  return  to,  11; 
meeting  held  in,  79;  Peters  goes  to, 
94;  change  of  church  rules  in,  133; 
Miss  Crandall  confers  with  aboli- 
tionists of,  161;  pursuers  return  to, 
166;  Sir  Edmund  Andros  arrives  in, 
168;  all  records  moved  to,  171 ;  181 ; 
dangerous  trip  to  New  Haven 
from,  186;  shipments  to,  188;  In- 
dian trail  from  Connecticut  to, 
249;  mounted  post  to,  250;  Madame 
Knight  travels  from,  251 ;  roads  to, 
253;  stage  route  from  Hartford  to, 
257;  mail  route  to,  311;  stage  con- 
nections with,  355;  great  fire,  397; 
fire  losses,  403;  547 


and  New  York  Air  Line  char- 
tered, 417 

Asylum,  Butler  in  charge  of,  465 

Bay,  migration  from,  7  et  seq. 

Port   Bill,   enacted,   281;  burnt 

by  hangman,  283 

Boswell,  Sir  William,  advice  of,  6 

Bowdin,  principal  of  Episcopal  Acad- 
emy, 223 

Bozrah,  Reuben  Hyde  from,  98 

Brace,  Thomas  K.,  president  ^tna 
Co.,  399;  meets  .i^tna  losses,  400; 
resigns  presidency,  400 

Bracy,  Thomas,  testifies  against 
Mrs.  Harrison,  150 

Bradford,  Gov.,  quoted,  36,  102 

Bradford,  Samuel,  indorsement  by, 
quoted,  218    ' 

Bradstreet  referred  to,  249 

Brainard,  John  G.  C,  poems  by,  503 

Brainerd  Academy,  in  Haddam,  222 

Brandt,  Joseph,  wipes  out  Westmore- 
land, 201 

Branford,  18;  purchase  of,  20;  ad- 
mitted to  Confederacy,  22;  con- 
sultation with  magistrate  of,  165; 
salt  manufactured  in,  193;  sends 
committee  to  East  Jersey,  205; 
ministers  meet  in,  229;  James 
Blackstone  Memorial  at,  227;  salt 
made  in,  313 

Brattleboro,  asylum  at,  465 

Brent,  John,  by  Winthrop,  508 

Brewer,  William  A.,  one  of  faculty, 
238 

Brewster,  railroad  to,  417 

Brewster,  Gilbert,  wool  spinning- 
wheel  invented  Isy,  366 

Brewster,  Jonathan,  13 

Bridgeport,  evening  schools  in,  216; 
Trade  School  in,  216;  Golden  Hill 
Seminary  at,  222;  free  High  School 
in,  224;  first  free  public  library  in, 
227;  population  of,  548;  increase  in 
value,  549;  483 

Protestant  Orphan  Asylum  es- 
tablished, 482 

Brigham,  Dr.,  at  Utica  Asylum,  465 

Brighton,  9 

Bristol,  Mount  Hope  in,  47;  copper 
mine  in,  192;  free  High  School  in, 
224 

British  leave  the  Sound,  334 

Brock,  Major-General  Isaac,  British 
commander,  331 ;  quoted,  331 ;  Hull 
surrenders  to,  332 

Brookfield,  Bay  Path  through,  249 

Brookline,  9 


Index 


569 


Brooklyn,  Godfrey  Malborne  of,  155; 
academy  in,  222;  men  enlisted  at, 

383 

Brothertoft,  Edwm,  by  Winthrop,  508 
Brown,  John,  hero  of  Harper's  Ferry, 

379 
Brown,  Samuel,  first  chaise  owned  by. 

Brown,  Stephen,  among  Knowlton  s 
Rangers,  289 

Brown,  Theron,  a  writer,  508 

Brown,  Tutor,  232 

Browne,  John  D.,  Secretary  Connec- 
ticut Fire  Insurance  Co.,  402 

Brownell,  Bishop,  president  Washing- 
ton College,  241 ;  reference  to  the 
consecration  of,  241;  Ives'  statue 
of,  519 

Brownell,  Charles  D.,  a  landscape 
painter,  521 

Brownell,  Henry  Howard,  war  poems 
by,  quoted,  506,  507;  works  of,  507 

Brownell  Hall  built,  241 

Brush,  George  J.,  director  Scientific 
School,  238 

Buchanan,  Connecticut  votes  for, 
380 

Buck,  Dudley,  a  composer,  533; 
career  of,  533;  death  of,  534 

Buchingham,  Governor,  statue  of, 
522 

Buckingham,  William  A.,  in  charge 
Haywood  Rubber  Co.,  361 ;  pro- 
clamation to  militia  from,  381 ;  con- 
tributes to  reform  school,  448 

Bucknell,  Stephen  C,  maker  of  locks, 
360 

Buell,  Abel,  makes  first  lapidary  ma- 
chine, 192 ;  establishes  t3'pe  foundry, 
194,  313;  starts  cotton  factory,  314; 
dies  made  by,  318 

Buell,  Mrs.  Mary  T.,  gives  home  to 
reform  school,  459 

Buffalo,  conference  with  Indians  at, 
204 

Bugbee,  Jr.,  Thomas,  pottery  works 
started  by,  309 

Bulfinch  State  House,  lottery  to 
erect,  372 

Bulkley,  E.  A.,  president  ^tna  Life, 
409 

Bulkley,  Gershom,  99;  makes  a  mill 
pond,  log;  paper  written  by,  152 

Bulkley,  John,  revision  of  laws  by, 

273 
Bulkley  School  in  Meriden,  224 
Bull  in  procession  to  Connecticut,  12 
Bull,  Captain  Thomas,  in  command  at 


Saybrook,  173;  resists  Andros,  174; 
heads  Connecticut  troops,   178 
Bull    Run,    Connecticut    troops    at, 

383 
Bunce,    Admiral    Francis    M.,    from 

Connecticut,  386 
Bunce,  Jonathan,  son-in-law  of  San- 
ford,  59 
Bunce,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Sanford, 

59 
Bunch  of  Grapes  Tavern,  a  famous 

tavern,  255,  256 
Bunker  Hill,  Yale  men  officers  at,  235 ; 

reference  to,  259;  ammunition  for 

battle  of,  284;  fortifying  of,  285 
Bureau  of  Equipment  and  Recruiting, 

Foote  ordered  to,  387 

of  Vital  Statistics,  report  of,  549 

Burgoyne,  surrender  of,  referred  to, 

259,  287 
Burt,  E.,  loom  invented  by,  366 
Busch,  Julius,   Brownell  a  pupil  of, 

521 
Bushnell,  C.  S.,  helps  Ericsson,  387; 

letter  to  Welles  from,  388;  becomes 

Ericsson's  partner,  388 
Bushnell,  David,  a   Yale  man,  235; 

invents  marine  torpedo,  292 
Bushnell,  Dr.  Caleb,  bill  of,  quoted, 

114 
Bushnell,    Horace,    quoted,    371;    a 

theologist,  505;  works  of,  505 
Bussaker,    Peter,    imprisoned    for    a 

joke,  102 
Butler,  Dr.  J.  A.,  in  charge  Boston 

Asylum,  465 
Butler,  Frederick,  general  history  by, 

503 
Butler,  John,  wipes  out  Westmore- 
land, 201 
Butterfield  tortured  by  Pequots,  39 
Byers  Hall,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  headquarters, 

239 

Byram  River,   western  boundary  of 
Connecticut,  174 


Cabot,  George,  337 

Cadwell,  Thomas,  licensed  ferry-man, 

260 
Caldwell,  John,  forms  insurance  com- 
pany,   393;    offices  held  by,    394; 
president  insurance  company,  395 
Calhoun,  John  C,  quoted,  303 
California,  slavery  question  in,  378 
Cambridge,  9;   taxes  for  building  in, 
10;  petition  made  by  congregation 


570 


Index 


Cambridge  {Continued) 

at,  1 1 ;  regicide  judges  escape  from, 

165;  path  through,  249;  554 
Platform      governs     for     sixty 

years,  129 

Synod,  130 

Camp,  391 

Canaan,  198;  land  granted  in,  232 
Canada,  expeditions  to,  123,  178,  318 
Canandaigua,  insurance    agency  in, 

396 
Canonchet,  chief  of  Narragansetts,  48 
Canonicus,  chief  of  the  Narragansetts, 

Canterbury,    given    to    Mason,    25; 

negro  school  started  in,   162;  law 

against     negro     school     in,      162; 

border   war   with    Plainfield,    197; 

town  meeting  held  in,  198;  Cleave- 

land  goes  to,  203 
Cape  Cod,  176 
Carnegie  Institute,  Oilman  president 

of,  247 
Carriages,  first,  in  Connecticut,  109 
Carrington,  John,  and  wife,  hanged, 

147 

Carter,     Franklin,    a    president    of 

Williams,  247 
Carteret,    Philip,    governor   of   East 

Jersey,  205 
Case,  Newton,  gift  of,  244 
Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  school  of, 

in  Waterbury,  224 
Cecil  Dreeme,  by  Winthrop,  508 
Census  Bureau,  report  of,  548 
Centennial  Meditations  of  Columbia, 

set  to  music,  533 
Center  Church,  clock  in,  357 
Cerberus,  British  ship,  292 
Challenge,  Christian,  a  bill  to,  114 
Chamberlain,  391 
Champion,  Col.  Henry,  given  money 

for  army,  2  84 ;  drives  cattle  to  Valley 

Forge,  285 
Champion,  Epaphroditus,  drives  cat- 
tle to  Valley  Forge,  285 
Chandler,    William,    intercedes    for 

Daggett,  234 
Channing,    William    EUery,    Flagg's 

portrait  of,  519 
Chapin,    Andrew,    president    Beloit 

College,  246 
Chapman,  Sarah,    arrest  of,  443 
Charles  I.,  death  of,  referred  to,  164; 

reference  to  fall  of,  277 
Charles  11. ,   58;    Connecticut  votes 

allegiance    to,    77;    grants   to   his 

brother,  80,  200;   crowning  of,  re- 


ferred to,  164;  Connecticut  ac- 
knowledges, 166;  gives  liberal 
patent  to  Connecticut,  166;  death 
of,  167;  reference  to,  212;  charter 
of,  282;  Leland  attacks  charter  of, 

343;  556 
Charles  River,  property  on,  11 
Charleston,    slaves    for,    156;    Foote 

ordered  to,  387;  Terry  at,  389 
Charlestown  makes  offers  to  settlers, 

17 

Charlton,  Bay  Path  through,  249 

Charter,  Randolph  demands  Con- 
necticut, 168  et  seq;  spirited  away 
and  hidden,  170;  Connecticut's, 
resumed,  172 

Charter  Oak,  work  of  Brownell,  521 

Charter  Oak  Life  Insurance  Co., 
formed,  408;  failure  of,  408 

Chase,  George  L.,  president  of  in- 
surance company,  397 

Chastellux  in  military  conference,  292 

Chatfield,  391 

Chatham,  bell-making  in,  360;  Stan- 
cliff  born  in,  519 

Chauncey,  Captain  Isaac,  serves  in 
war,  333 

Chauncy,  Rev.  Isaac,  declines  college 
presidency,  229 

Cheesborough,  William,  settles  Ston- 
ington,  22 

Chelmsford,  disaster  in,  49 

Cheney,  Frank,  starts  silk  industry, 

364 
Cheney,  Ralph,  starts  silk  industry, 

364 

Cheney,  Seth,  crayon  artist,  518 

Cheshire,  18;  silkworms  on  farm  at, 
193;  college  started  at,  240;  State 
Reformatory  at,  453 

Chicago,  great  fire,  397;  Hubbard 
agent  in,  399;  merchants  ruined 
by,  fire,  401 ;  fire  losses  at,  403 

Children's  Home,  at  New  Britain,  481 ; 
in  Stamford,  482 

China,  first  ship  to,  204 

Chippewa,  Porter  at,  334 

Chittenden,  Ebenezer,  invents  card 
teeth  cutting  machine,  315 

Chittenden,  Russell  H.,  director 
Scientific  School,  238 

Choate,  Rufus,  quoted,  177 

Christaensen,  Blok  meets,  5 

Christian  Freeman,  anti-slavery  news- 
paper, 377 

Christian  Nature,  by  Bushnell,  505 

Church,  Dr.  Benjamin,  imprisoned 
in  Newgate,  296 


Index 


571 


Church,  Frederick  E.,  career  of,  521; 
works  of,  521 

Church,  the  early,  in  Connecticut, 
wq  ff.;  contention  in  the,  123 

of  England,  services  of,  barred 

in  Connecticut,  139 

Cincinnati,  Protection  agency  in,  400; 
^tna  office  in,  400 

Music  Festival,  Buck  connected 

with,  533 

Order  of  Connecticut,  suspicious 

of,  307 

City  Fire  Insurance  Co.,  the  Orient 
succeeds,  403 

Clap,  Thomas,  succeeds  Rector  Wil- 
liams, 232;  fines  collected  by,  233; 
denounces  Whitefield's  teaching, 
233;  prejudices  people  against 
Yale,  233;  death  of,  234;  establishes 
college  church  at  Yale,  274 

Clarendon,  Lord,  referred  to,  78 

Clark,  Daniel,  Wolcott  writes  of,  99 

Clark,  Laban,  starts  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity, 242 

Clark  Institute,  of  Northampton,  474 

Clarke,  Sir  Caspar  Purdon,  praises 
Church,  521 

Clay,  Henry,  Shumway's  protrait  of, 
518 

Cleaveland,  founding  of,  204 

Cleaveland,  Moses,  agent  for  Ohio 
lands,  203;  becomes  famous  law- 
yer, 203;  has  conference  with  Red 
Jacket,  204;  founds  Cleaveland, 
204;  reference  to,  310 

Clemens,  Samuel  L.,  "Mark  Twain," 
Gilded  Age,  by,  508;  works  of,  509 

Clare,  Laurent,  comes  to  America, 
472 

Cleveland,  Ebenezer,  suspended  from 
coUege,  271 

Cleveland,  John,  suspended  from 
Yale,  271 

Clio,  by  Percival,  502 

Cloyne,  Bishop  of,  contributions  to 
Yale  from,  232 

Codes  of  Civil  and  Criminal  Procedure, 
by  Field,  Jr.,  513 

Cogswell,  Dr.  Mason  F.,  starts 
school  for  deaf,  472 

Cogswell,  Mason,  one  of  "Hartford 
Wits,"  498 

Coit,  John,  first  shipbuilder,  189 

Coke,  witchcraft  in  time  of,  145 

Colchester,  dispute  over  land  in,  24; 
Bacon  Academy  at,  221;  Haywood 
Rubber  Company  in,  361;  Bartho- 
lemew  born  in,  520 


Cole,  Ann,  a  religious  melancholiac, 

148;  marriage  of,  148 
Cole,  Nathan,  quoted,  267 
Cole,  Thomas,  Church  a  pupil  of,  521 
Colebrook,  Owen  a  native  of,  246 
College  of  Dental  Surgery  opened  in 
Baltimore,  247 

of  the  City  of  New  York,  Owen 

member  of,  246 
Collegiate  School,  charter  for  a,  229 
"Collegiate  School"  established,  208 
Collins,    the    three,    brothers,    206; 

brothers  build  CoUinsville,  206 
Collinsville  established  by  Connecti- 
cut men,  206 
Colonial  Records,  Ludlow's  code  in, 

91 

Colt,  Elisha,  treasurer  Saving  Society, 

322 
Colt,  Peter,  gives  money  for  army, 

284 
Colt,  Samuel,  patents  revolver,  362 
Columbia,  church  trial  in,  265;  John 

Smalley  born  in,  275 
College,  Johnsons  founders  of, 

246 
Commerce,  a  whaler,  313 
Commission   on   Public   Service    Cor- 
porations appointed,  418 
Common  Council,  547 

Pleas,  Court  of,  established,  86 

Compensation  Act  passed,  413 
Conant,   Shubal,   refuses   to   witness 

ceremony,  280 
Concord,  pioneers  from,  21;  views  of 

battle   at,    192;   Alcott    settles  in, 

505 
Concord  Days,  by  Alcott,  505 
Concord  School  of  Philosophy,  Alcott 

dean  of,  505 
Cone,    C.    O.,    professor    in    dental 

college,  248 
Confederacy,  war  frigate,  292 
Congregational     Church,      Book     of 
Discipline   explains,    131;     the   es- 
tablished church,  131,  136 
Congress,  Kilburn  goes  to,  205 ;  sends 
Deane   to   Paris,    287;   bad   repre- 
sentation at,  297;  Johnson  a  mem- 
ber of,  298;  petition  from  Pennsyl- 
vania to,  308;  issues  paper  money, 
322;  passes  Force  Act,  335;  Hart- 
ford committee  goes  to,  337 
Congress,  burning  of  the,  388 
Congressional  Library,  Warner  makes 

door  for,  522 
Connecticut,    description    of,     i    ff.; 
wealth  of,   i ;  volcanic  trap  in,  2  j 


572 


Index 


Connecticut  (Continued) 

markings  of  Glacial  Age  in,  3; 
brick  supply  of,  3;  granite  quarries 
of,  3 ;  sandstone  in,  3 ;  iron  mines  of, 
3;  the  settling  of,  4;  Indians  tell 
Pilgrims  of,  5;  Pilgrims  receive, 
from  Uneas,  6;  lures  people  of 
Massachusetts,  7;  procession  again 
starts  for,  1 1 ;  party  sets  out  for,  1 1 ; 
beginning  of  agricultural  life  in, 
11;  appoints  Hopkins  a  commis- 
sioner, 15;  appoints  Winthrop,  15; 
conflict  in,  15;  Pequot  country 
saved  for,  16;  buying  and  settling 
of  towns  in,  20  ff.;  migration  to 
Newark  from,  21;  Stonington  be- 
comes part  of,  22;  Indian  inhabi- 
tants of,  2%  ff.;  an  Indian  country, 
35;  Court  meets  to  decide  fate  of, 
40;  meeting  of  Court  of,  44;  Sas- 
sacus's  scalp  sent  to,  45;  treaty 
with  Indians  and,  46;  furnishes 
men  to  fight,  48;  death  of  three, 
captains,  48;  time  of  dread  in,  49; 
government  for,  ^t^  Massachusetts 
recognizes,  54;  government  insti- 
tuted for,  55^  severs  political 
dependence  with  Massachusetts,  55, 
under  own  rule,  55  et  seq.;  copies 
Massachusetts  government,  56,  90; 
Pynchon  supplies  corn  to,  56;  mak- 
ing of  government  of,  61 ;  laws  and 
rules  for,  62;  freedom"^  "Orders" 
in,  65;  early  government  in,  65  ff.; 
scanty  hospitality  of,  67;  suffrage 
in,  68;  Haynes  governor  of,  72; 
adrmrers  of  laws  of,  73 ;  boundaries 
of,  7J;  votes  allegiance  to  King,  77; 
claims  Mystic  and  Stonington,  78; 
claims  Westchester,  78;  towns  ask 
admission  to,  78;  New  Haven 
remonstrates  with,  78;  New  Haven 
refuses  to  recognize  government  of, 
79;  New  Haven  sends  paper  to,  80; 
pays  no  attention  to  New  Haven's 
paper,  80;  New  Haven  joins,  80; 
formation  of  courts  in,  81  ff.; 
earliest  offices  in,  88;  LudlowTeaves, 
91;  new  era  in,  91;  laws  rest  on 
those  of  England,  92;  Mosaic  code 
not  adopted  in,  92;  statute  passed 
in,  92;  "Blue  Laws"  in,  93  et  seq.; 
few  changes  in,  93;  Peters's  spiteful 
history  of,  94  et  seq.;  laws  of,  95 
et  seq.;  distinguished  lawyers 
from,  97;  Ellsworth  represents,  in 
Senate,  97 ;  Swift's  treatise  on  laws 
of,   97;    leader  in  lawmaking,  98; 


enacts  "Practice  Act,"  98;  mar- 
riage laws  of,  98;  Fenwick  presents 
seal  to,  99;  lives  of  first  people  in, 
loi  ff.;  few  Pilgrims  in,  loi;  early 
lives  of  people  in,  loi;  people  who 
settled  in,  loi;  seventeenth  cen- 
tury in,  103;  description  of  early 
houses  in,  104  ff.;  food  of  early 
people  in,  io6_^.;  early  carriages  in, 
109;  Mason  first  officer  in,  no; 
titles  in  early  days  of,  no;  products 
of  early,  no;  fashions  of  early, 
III  et  seq.;  early  furniture  in,  112; 
first  almanac  in,  113;  first  printing- 
press  in,  114;  first  artificial  light  in, 
114;  candle-making  in,  115;  mak- 
ing of  cloth  in,  115;  wolf  hunts  in, 
117  et  seq.;  many  disturbances 
for  inhabitants  of,  123;  fever  for 
land  in,  123;  democratism  in,  124;  a 
Sunday  meeting  in,  126;  religious 
requirements  in,  128;  loss  of  fran- 
chise in,  129;  liberal  policy  of,  130; 
people  of,  offended  by  church 
affairs,  133;  voluntary  support  of 
religion  in,  134;  religious  character 
of,  135;  Rous  testifies  for,  139; 
law  against  Quakers  in,  annulled, 
139;  dislike  for  Baptists  in,  139; 
Church  of  England  services  barred 
in,  139;  anxious  at  movement  to 
appoint  a  bishop,  140;  Samuel 
Seabury  first  bishop  of,  141;  dis- 
satisfaction at  established  church 
of,  141;  witchcraft  in  1662  in,  147; 
close  of  witchcraft  in,  153;  number 
executed  in,  153;  slaves  kept  in, 
155;  number  of  slaves  in,  156; 
slave  trade  prohibited  in,  161;  at- 
tempt at  negro  schools  in,  161; 
acknowledges  authority  of  Charles 
II.,  166;  given  liberal  patent  by 
Charles  II.,  166;  charter  of,  quoted, 
166;  charter  received  in,  167J  gov- 
ernment formed  by  charter  in,  167; 
writs  served  on,  168  et  seq.;  Ran- 
dolph threatens,  168;  anxiety  over 
writs  in,  169;  letter  written  by 
officials  of ,  170;  Andros's  governing 
of,  lyi  ff.;  boundary  dispute  with 
New  York,  172  et  seq.;  settling  of 
boundaries  of,  172  et  seq.;  re- 
sumes old  government,  172;  bound- 
ary agreement  between  New  York 
and,  quoted,  173;  boundaries  de- 
cided on,  174;  loses  Rye,  174; 
conference  between,  and  Ne\v 
York,  174;  more  boundary  disputes 


Index 


573 


Connecticut  {Continued) 

in,  175;  Massachusetts  gets  some 
of,  176;  and  Massachusetts  com- 
promise, 176;  claims  Narragansett 
country,  177;  contention  of,  con- 
firmed, 178;  New  York  asks  for, 
troops,  178;  in  expedition  against 
Canada,  1 78 ;  troops  defend  Albany, 
178;  Fletcher  commissioned  to 
command  militia  of,  178;  king 
approves  action  of,  179;  charter  of, 
attacked,  180;  Ashurst  represents, 
180;  charges  made  against,  180; 
Dudley  calls  to,  for  aid,  180;  pop- 
ulation of,  181;  leagues  with  other 
colonies,  181  et  scq.;  trade  in, 
i85_^.;  captains  in  slave  trade,  188; 
mining  interests  in,  1 90  ff. ;  forges 
and  iron  works  in,  192;  tobacco- 
growing  in,  192;  silkworms  in,  193; 
Gov.  Law  wears  first  silk,  193; 
first  type  foundry  in,  194;  descrip- 
tion of,  to  English,  195  ff.;  land 
given  to,  199;  the,  grant,  199; 
Westmoreland's  deputies  in,  legis- 
lature, 200;  tract  in  Ohio  given 
to,  203;  people  from,  in  Western 
Reserve,  204;  Wisconsin  governors 
from,  205;  school  system  estab- 
lished in,  207;  first  schools  in,  207; 
school  districts  in,  209;  the  School 
Fund  in,  210;  provisions  for  educa- 
tion in,  216;  first  geography  pub- 
lished in,  219;  academics  started  in, 
221  ff.;  Roman  Catholic  schools 
in,  224;  history  of  Trinity  College 
in,  240;  bishop  of,  referred  to,  241; 
third  college  in,  242;  woman's 
college  to  start  in,  243;  influence 
of,  on  colleges,  245  ff. ;  Indian  trail 
from  Boston  to,  249;  first  road  in, 
250;  legislature  votes  for  road,  252; 
horses  in,  254;  "sleys"  in,  254; 
first  turnpikes  in,  258;  religious 
unrest  in,  265  ff. ;  the  currency  of, 
265,  266;  church  rights  in,  274; 
theologians  from,  275;  leaders  in 
home  missions,  275;  Grenville 
praises,  "  Reasons,"  280;  volunteers 
follow  Putnam,  284;  helps  army 
at  Valley  Forge,  284;  troops  first 
in  New  York,  286;  critical  position 
of,  287;  some  of  the,  martyrs,  289; 
and  the  navy,  29 1 ;  war  frigates 
built  in,  291;  number  of,  men  in 
war,  292;  released  from  allegiance 
to  crown,  292;  Tories  in,  294;  re- 
presented    at     convention,     298; 


merged  in  the  government,  304; 
influence  of,  on  Constitution,  305; 
loses  Westmoreland,  308;  larid 
grant  to,  308;  printing  introduced 
into,  311;  whaling  port  in,  312; 
competition  between  Nantucket 
and,  313;  becomes  a  manufacturing 
State,  314^.;  first  broadcloth  made 
in,  315;  money  situation  in,  317; 
coppers  coined  in,  318;  paper 
liquidated  by,  320;  land  taxed  in, 
323;  taxation  in,  323;  delegates 
from,  336;  political  freedom  in,  342; 
increase  in  population  of,  354;  in- 
dustries in,  356;  wage-earners  in, 
356;  hat  industry  in,  357;  manu- 
facture of  pins  in,  358;  bronze 
products  made  in,  358;  tinware 
industry  in,  359;  machine  screws 
manufactured  in,  359;  metal-work- 
ing in,  359,  360;  rubber  industry 
started  in,  360;  bell-making  in,  360; 
lockmaking  in,  360;  firearms  manu- 
factured in,  361;  rubbers  made  in, 
361;  sewing-machines  manufactured 
in,  362;  woolen  industries  in,  362; 
cotton  thread  made  in,  363;  hard- 
ware industry  in,  364;  silk  industry 
in,  364;  patents  issued  to  inventors, 
366;  home  missions  organized  in, 
370;  troops  called  for,  381;  regi- 
ments from,  385;  prominent  men 
in  navy  from,  386;  steamboats 
started  in,  414;  canals  built  in,  415; 
railroads  started  in,  416;  street 
cars  begun  in,  419;  residence  law  in, 
422;  citizen  law  in,  428;  board  of 
health  started  in,  431;  almshouses 
in,  433;  tramp  question  in,  434; 
first  house  of  correction  in,  438; 
jails  ordered  for  every  county  in, 
438;  punishments  of  early,  443^.; 
horse  stealing  in,  444;  death  pen- 
alty in,  444,  446;  imprisonment  for 
debt  in,  447;  school  agent  in,  449; 
prison  support  in,  455;  care  of  the 
insane  in,  461,  465,  469;  care  of 
deaf  in,  473;  care  of  blind  in, 
474  ff. ;  idiots  in,  476  ff. ;  laws  for 
sale  of  liquor  in,  486  ff. ;  the  begin- 
ning of  art  in,  514;  early  music  in, 
525,  526;  early  clothes  in,  537; 
early  life  of  people,  538;  farmers' 
tools  in,  539;  tobacco  grown  in,  542 
ff. ;  fruit  grown  in,  543 ;  number  of 
cities  in,  548;  population  of,  548; 
manufacturers  in,  549;  unrest  in 
cities  of,  550  ff. 


574 


Index 


Connecticut     Agricultural     Station, 

reports  of,  542 
Anti-Slavery    Society     formed, 

375 
"Connecticut  Asylum  for  Deaf  and 

Dumb,"  472 
Bridge   Co.,    Morgan   president 

of,  394 
Colony  for  Epileptics  organized, 

478 
Connecticut   Common  School  Journal 

founded,  214 
"  Connecticut  Compromise  "  adopted, 

303 

Connecticut  constitution,  306 
Connecticut  Courant  started,  311 
Connecticut,  Episcopal  Academy  of, 

at  Cheshire,  223 
Fire  Insurance    Co.    organized, 

402 
Connecticut     Gazette,     advertisement 

from,  quoted,   158;  pioneer  paper, 

311 

Connecticut  General  Life  Insurance 
Co.  chartered,  408 

Gore  Land  Company,  201  et  seq. 

Hall  erected,  232 

Health  Insurance  formed,  407 

Historical    Society,    remains   of 

Dutch  fort  in,  7;  Strong's  portrait 
at  the,  516 

Home  Missionary  Society  or- 
ganized, 369 

Institute  for  Blind,  475 

Invalid   Home   for    Drunkards, 

491 

Literary    Institute    in    Suffield, 

223 

Connecticut  Mirror,  Prentice  editor 
of,  505 

Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Co.,  helps  insurance  men,  397; 
formed,  405;  refuses  to  adopt  Ton- 
tine principle,  406;  Greene  presi- 
dent of,  407 

Connecticut  Prison  Association,  Pris- 
oners' Friends  called,  453 

Connecticut  Reformatory  Home  for 
Drunkards,  491 

Regiment,  First,  reaches  Wash- 
ington, 382;  Second,  Terry  in 
command  of,  382;  Third,  goes  to 
battle,  382 

— —  Religious  Tract  Society  formed, 
370 

Republicans,  344 

— '■ —  River,  first  navigator  of,  4; 
Oldham    sets    out    to    explore,    5; 


Holmes  starts  for,  5;  Winslow  in- 
vestigates stories  of,  5 ;  Amsterdam 
vessels  on,  5;  fort  erected  at 
mouth  of,  14;  Sassacus's  outrages 
on,  45;  four  districts  on,  53,  ct  seq.; 
Ludlow's  early  days  on,  75;  ferries 
on,  261;  bridge  built  across,  261; 
canal  to,  415;  554 

School  for  Boys,  reform  school 

called,  449 

Silk  Society  incorporated,  314 

State    Reformatory,    donations 

for,  452 ;  opening  of  the,  453 

Connecticut  Yankee  in  King  Arthur's 
Court,  A,  by  "Mark  Twain,"  509 

Conquest  of  Canaan,  The,  by  Tim- 
othy Dwight,  500 

Consociation,  a  covenant  of  com- 
munion between  churches,  135 

Consolidated  Company  becomes  cor- 
poration, 417 

Constellation,  guns  of  the,  192 

Constitution,  guns  on  the,  192;  wins 
naval  battle,  333 

Constitution  of  United  States  ratified, 
350 

Continental  Congress,  Johnson  mem- 
ber of,  246;  delegates  to,  281; 
Sherman  member  of,  298 

Iron    Works,    "iron     battery" 

made  at,  388 

Life  Insurance  Co.,  rise  and  fall 

of  the,  408 

Convocation,  House  of,  formed,  241 

Cook,  Aaron,  on  building  committee, 

59 
Cooke,  Rose  Terry,  a  favorite  writer, 

508 
Copeland,  John,  a  Quaker  preacher, 

138 
Copley,  pupil  of  Blackburn,  515 
Coral  Grove,  The,  by  Percival,  quoted, 

502 
Cornbury,  Gov.,  complaints  against 

Connecticut  by,  180 
Cornwall,  in  Litchfield  County,   189; 

land  granted  in,  232 
Cornwallis,  Lord,  surrenders  to  Lin- 
coln, 292;  reference  to  surrender  of, 

308,  330 
"Corte,"  organization  of  a,  81 
Cotton,  John,  travels  with  Hooker,  8; 

referred  to,  10,  75,  131 
Council  of  Safety,  sends  ammunition, 

284;  sends  money  to  Valley  Forge, 

284 
County  Commissioner  added  to  County 

Court,  85 


Ind 


ex 


575 


County  Court,  meets  at  New  Haven, 
60;  jurisdiction  of,  85;  established 
in  each  county,  85 ;  abandoned,  85 ; 
probate  powers  given  to,  87;  mar- 
shals appointed  by,  88;  petition 
to,  for  highway,  259 

Court  of  New  London,  record  of, 

quoted,  443 

Courier-Journal,    Prentice   with   the. 

Court,  General,  establishing  of,  22 

of  Magistrates,  establishing  of, 

21 

Plantation,  establishing  of,  2 1 

of  Probate  investigates  drunk- 
ard, 491 

Coventry,  Great  Awakening  in,  267 

Crandall,  Prudence,  opens  school  for 
negro  girls,  161  et  seg.;  protests 
against  negro  school  of,  162;  boy- 
cotted for  negro  school,  162; 
arrest  of,  162;  disbands  negro 
school,  163;  pension  voted  to,  163 

Creed,  John  W.,  379 

Critical  Moment,  A,  work  of  G. 
Trumbull,  521 

Croffut  quoted,  391 

Cromwell,  orphanage  at,  483;  home 
for  nervous  at,  485 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  Ludlow  serves 
under,  91;  referred  to,  102,  164 

Cuff,  Governor,  a  negro,  160 

Cumberland,  sinking  of  the,  388 

Cummings,  Joseph,  improvements 
at  Wesleyan  under,  243 

Cummings,  Thomas  S.,  a  water-color 
painter,  518 

Curler,  Jacob  van,  commander  of 
Dutch  fort,  6 

Curtis,    William,    settles   Woodbury, 

25 

Curtis  Home,  the,  at  Meriden,  482 

Cushman,  George  H.,  miniature  paint- 
er, 520 

Cutler,  Manasseh,  influence  used  in 
Ordinance,  203;  works  of,  226 

Cutler,  Timothy,  goes  to  England  for 
ordination,  141;  Rector  of  Yale 
College,  141,  232 

Cuyahoga  River,  expedition  lands  at, 
204 


D 


Daboll,  Nathan,  arithmetic  books 

by,  220,  503 
Daggett,  David,  professor  of  law  at 

Yale,  237 


Daggett,  Naphtali,  succeeds  Clap 
as  president,  234;  Chandler  inter- 
cedes for,  234;  captured  by  British, 
234;  death  of,  234 

Dairymen's  Association,  540 

Damrosch  Symphony,  Sanford  con- 
nected with,  535 

Dana,  James  Dwight,  a  geologist,  237, 
510 

Danbury,  settlement  of,  25;  normal 
school  at,  216;  evening  schools  in, 
216;  Hickock  a  native  of,  246; 
Tryon  attacks,  290;  hats  manu- 
factured in,  356  _^. 

Academy  incorporated,  222 

Home,  for   destitute    children, 

482 

Dane,  Nathan,  supposed  author  of 
Ordinance,  203 

Darien,  in  Connecticut  boundary, 
175 

Darling,  Thomas,  manufacturer  of 
window  glass,  193 

Dartmouth  College,  Indian  school 
foundation  of,  52;  started  by 
Connecticut  man,  245;  graduates 
of,  245 

Dartmouth,  Lord,  contributes  to 
school,  52 

Davenport,  John,  head  of  settlers,  17; 
plans  for  church,  18  et  seq.;  one  of 
pillars  of  church,  19;  disappointed 
at  union  of  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven,  80;  a  slaveowner,  155;  con- 
ceals judges,  165;  draws  rules  for 
school,  207;  tries  to  get  a  New 
Haven  college,  228 

Davenport,  Rev.  James,  reference  to, 
270 

Davie,  Sir  John,  sends  books  for 
college,  229 

Davison,  Peter,  a  Norwich  idiot,  461 

Day,  George  E.,  of  the  Divinity 
School,  236 

Day,  Jeremiah,  added  to  Yale's 
faculty,  235;  Dwight's  successor, 
236 

Deaf,  School  for,  Wadsworth  founder 

of.  394 . 
Deane,   Silas,  delegate  to  Congress, 

281;    one    of    "committee,"   283; 

letter  of,  quoted,  286;  sent  to  Paris 

for  supplies,  287 
Dearborn,  General,  reference  to,  331, 

336 
Deep    River,    St.    John's    Industrial 

School  at,  483 
Deerfield,  disasters  in,  49 


576 


Ind 


ex 


Defoe,  reference  to,  221 

Delaware  River,  settlements  on  the, 
200;  Fitch's  boat  on  the,  313 

Democratic-Republican  party,  re- 
cruits of  the,  344 

Dennis,  Jared,  sons  of,  enlist,  382 

Denton,  Rev.  Richard,  leads  settlers, 
21 

Derby,  negro  ceremonies  move  to, 
160;  iron  works  in,  192;  manufac- 
ture of  pins  in,  358 

Desborough,  Samuel,  leads  settlers, 
20 

Detroit,  Hull  sends  supplies  to,  331; 
Hull  reaches,  332;  passes  into 
Brock's  hands,  332 

Devonshire,  Davie's  books  collected 
in,  229 

Dexter  referred  to,  274 

Dialogue    on    Slavery,    by    Hopkins, 

511 
Dick,  General  Putnam  frees,  157 
Dickenson,  Daniel,  a  painter,  518 
Dickenson,    Samuel,    a    brickmaker, 

109 
Dickinson,  Anson,  miniature  painter, 

516 
Dilworth  speller,  an  early  schoolbook, 

219 
Dimmock,  Shubael,  clothes  for,  288 
Disborough,     Mercy,     convicted    of 

witchcraft,  153 
Dispatch,  Holmes  nearly    sinks  the, 

334. 

Divinity  School  established  at  Yale, 
.236 

Dixon,  Jeremiah,  one  of  pillars  of 
church,  19 

Dixwell,  Colonel  John,  one  of  the 
regicide  judges,  164 

Doane,  George  W.,  on  Washington 
faculty,  241 

Dolphin,  New  London's  ship,  186 

Donelson,  Fort,  Foote's  capture  of, 
386 

Dorchester,  discontent  in,  7;  9;  or- 
ganizes town  government,  10;  re- 
ceives installment  from  Windsor,  1 1 ; 
signs  treaty  with  Plymouth  people, 
14;  changed  to  Windsor,  56;  554 

Dover,  Bradstreet's  trip  to,  249 

Drake,  Albert  W.,  enlists  as  volun- 
teer, 382 

Drake,  Francis,  gift  to  Hooker  from,  8 

Draper,  Professor,  first  daguerreo- 
type by,  517 

Drew,  Daniel,  indorses  bond,  388 

Dublin,  Ludlow  returns  to,  91 


Dudley,  settlers  take  path  through,  1 1 ; 
Path  through,  249 

Dudley,  David,  513 

Dudley,  Gov.,  complaints  against 
Connecticut  by,  180;  calls  to  Con- 
necticut for  aid,  180 

Dummer,  Fort,  199 

Dupont,  Admiral,  Foote  ordered  to 
supersede,  387 

Duportail  in  military  conference,  292 

Durham,  Moses  Austin  born  in,  204; 
academy  in,  223;  Great  Awaken- 
ing in,  267 

Durkee,  Major  John,  forces  Inger- 
soU  to  resign,  281 

Durrie,  George  H.,  a  farm  scene 
painter,  520 

Dutch,  hostilities  of,  and  English 
farmers,  6  et  seq.;  Sequasson  testi- 
fies in  court  against  the,  6;  vessel 
tries  to  enter  Connecticut,  14; 
the  meddlesome,  181 

Duyckink,  Evert,  reference  to,  7 

Dwight  Hall  completed,  239 

Dwight,  Theodore,  secretary  of 
organization,  337;  leader  of  Fed- 
erals, 345;  one  of  "Hartford  Wits," 
498 

Dwight,  Timothy,  private  school  run 
by,  221 ;  fines  dispensed  with  under, 
233;  inauguration  of,  235;  abolishes 
fines,  235;  buys  land,  235;  starts 
Medical  School,  236;  Hadley 
succeeds,  239;  referred  to,  274, 
344,  368;  sermons  in  New  Haven 
by,  275;  quoted,  293,  309;  ser- 
mons of,  369;  one  of  "Hartford 
Wits,"  498;  Travels  in  New  Eng- 
land, by,  500;  hymns  by,  500; 
Conquest  of  Canaan,  by,  500; 
author,  512 

Dyer,  Eliphalet,  refuses  to  witness 
ceremony,  280;  delegate  to  Con- 
gress, 281 


E 


Eagle,  Lord  Howe's  flagship,  292 
Eagle  Lock  Company  formed,  360 
Earl,    Ralph,    a    miniature    painter, 

515 
Earth-bound,  work  by  Potter,  522 
East    Haddam,    24,    240;    Griffin  a 

native  of,  247;  Cone  a  native  of, 

248;  bell-making  in,  360 
Hartford,  24;    Podunks  in,  29; 

pays  for  bridge,  261 
Haven,  18 


Index 


577 


East  Haddam,  Jersey,  Carteret  gov- 
ernor of,  205 

Windsor,  24 ;  Windsor  overflows 

into,  24;  Podunks  live  in,  29; 
convention  held  at,  244;  Theologi- 
cal Institute  at,  244;  Edwards 
born  in,  275;  Fitch  bom  in,  313; 
theological  school  at,  370 

Easton,  Captain,  in  the  slave  trade, 
156 

Eaton,  Theophilus,  head  of  settle- 
ment, 17;  explores  land,  17;  one  of 
pillars  of  church,  19;  elected  gov- 
ernor, 19;  22;  prevents  bloodshed 
in  New  Haven,  153;  regicide  judges 
concealed  by,  165;  on  commission 
board,  183;  555 

Echo,  continuation  of  Anarchiad, 
499;  epics  in  the,  500 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  preaches  of 
customs,  125  et  seq.;  deplores 
school  conditions,  214;  sermons 
preached  by,  266;  sermon  of, 
quoted,  267;  275;  pastor  in  New 
Haven,  276;  on  slavery  question, 
376;  496;  writes  of  Indians,  512; 
theological  writings  of,  512 

Edwards,  Jr.,  Jonathan,  against  slave 
trade,  160;  at  anti-slavery  con- 
vention, 376 

Edwards,  Pierpont,  leader  Connec- 
ticut Republicans,  344;  calls  meet- 
ing, 347;  defends  Republicans, 
347;  at  convention,  350 

Edwards,  Rev.  Timothy,  of  East 
Windsor,  124  et  seq.;  father  of 
Jonathan,  266 

Elder,  office  of  ruling,  abolished,  134 

Elderkin,  silkworm  cultivated  by,  364 

Elderkin,  Goodman,  reference  to, 
124 

Eldredge,  Isabella,  Eldredge  Library 
supported  by,  227 

Eldredge,  John  B.,  secretary  Con- 
necticut Insurance  Co.,  402 

Eldredge  Library,  richly  endowed,  227 

Eliot,  John,  preaches  to  Indians,  50 

Elizabeth,  witchcraft  in  reign  of,  146; 
music  in  days  of,  525 

Ellington,  24 

Elliot,  John,  manufacturer  of  pitch, 

193 

Ellsworth,  Chief  Justice,  quoted,  108 

Ellsworth,  Col.,  death  at  Alexandria 
of,  384 

Ellsworth,  Judge,  Earl  paints  por- 
trait of,  515 

Ellsworth,  Oliver,  73;  a  Connecticut 

37 


lawyer,  97;  represents  Connecticut 
in  Senate,  97;  influenced  by 
Smalley,  275;  Connecticut  delegate, 
298;  urges  compromise,  302;  ad- 
dresses convention,  304;  chosen  to 
Senate,  304;  referred  to,  554 

Ellsworth,  Pinckney  W.,  starts  life 
insurance,  404 

Ellsworth,  William  W.,  succeeds  Wil- 
liams, 395;  president  of  the  Pro- 
tection, 400 

Emerson,  504 

Emerson  School,  in  Wethersfield,  223 

Emmons,  Admiral  George  P.,  292 

Emmons,  Nathanael,  teacher  of 
ministers,  274,  275 

Endicott,  Captain,  sent  to  avenge 
murder,  38 ;  burns  Pequot  wigwams, 

39 

Endicott,  Mary,  married  to  Ludlow, 

74 

Enfield,  disputed  lands  m,  176; 
Adams  writes  of,  landlord,  256; 
Pease  born  in,  257;  Edwards's  ser- 
mon in,  266;  Shakers  form  colony 
in,  278;  Terry  born  in,  519 

Falls,     Pynchon    settles    near, 

53 

Rapids,  Blok  reaches,  4 

England,  Mosaic  code  in,  92;  Peters 

goes    to,    94;    Pilgrims    renounce 

Church  of,    loi;  ministers  go  to, 

141;    Hartford   trades   with,    186; 

school  system  of,  adopted,  207, 208; 

injurious  treatment  of,  330;  at  war 

with  Napoleon,  330 
Church  of,  taxes  of  members  of, 

141 
English,    hostility    of,    and    Dutch 

farmers,  6  et  seq. ;  Sequasson  testifies 

for,  6;  much  owed  to  Indians  by, 

36  et  seq. 
Acts   of    Trade   applied   to 

colonies,  187 
Episcopal  Academy  of  Connecticut 

at  Cheshire,  223 
Church,  college  started  under, 

240 
Episcopalians,  137;  persecution  of  the, 

141;  allowed  to  build  in  Stratford, 

141;  Yale  men  become  ministers, 

141 ;  influence  of  Great  Awakening 

on,  274 
Episcopate,  American  movement  in 

behalf    of,    139,    140;     American, 

established,  141  et  seq. 
Equivalent  Tract,  New  York  given 

the,  175 


578 


Index 


Ericsson,  John,  designer  of  the  Moni- 
tor, 387 

Erie  Canal,  scheme  to  rival  the,  415 

Essex,  on  a  glacial  sand  plain,  3; 
settlers  come  from,  20 

Europe,  killing  of  witches  in,  145; 
number  of  persecutions  in,  146; 
machinery  from,  356 

Evarts,  William  M.,  editor  of  maga- 
zine, 239 

Evening  schools  in  Connecticut,  216 

Eve  Repentant,  work  of  Bartholemew, 
520 

Exodus  xxii.,  persecution  of  witches 
authorized  in,  145 

Experiment,  the  steamboat,  414 

"Extent  and  Power  of  Political 
Delusions,"  Bishop's  address,  345 


F 


Fair  Haven,  483 

Fair  Haven  and  Westville  Co.  char- 
tered, 419 

Fair  Oaks,  Sedgwick  at,  390 

Fairfax,  Sir  John,  referred  to,  40 

Fairfield,  Ludlow  settles  in,  21; 
uninhabited,  29;  made  a  county,  84; 
Common  Pleas  Court  in,  86;  one 
of  consociations  in,  135;  Goodwife 
Knap  of,  147;  center  of  witchcraft 
rage,  152  et  seq.;  becomes  a  lawful 
port,  187;  educational  law  in,  208; 
Staples  Academy  in,  221;  Try  on 
destroys,  291 ;  many  Tories  in,  294; 
care  of  children  in,  436;  women 
help  poor  cliildren,  448;  Female 
Beneficent  Society  in,  479 

County,  Seventeenth  Regiment 

from,  385 

Falls  Village,  shot  made  in,  365 

Family    Protection,    watchword    for 

'    Guarantee  Fund,  405 

Farero,  Bartholemew  a  pupil  of, 
520 

Farmington,  skeleton  found  in,  2; 
incorporated,  22;  Indian  school  in, 
51;  meeting-house  in,  104;  125; 
Mary  Barnes  of,  149;  girls' school  in, 
222;  Hart  school  in,  223;  227;  John 
Hart  of,  230;  asks  for  highway, 
259;  contributes  men,  385;  citizens 
meet  at,  415 

Canal  Company  chartered,  415 

River,  Holmes  lands  at  mouth 

of,  6;  Tunxis  Indians  on,  29; 
Litchfield  watered  by  the,  198 

Valley  Mutual,  403 


Farragut,  Admiral,    Brownell    with, 

506 
Father    of    Foreign    Missions,   Mills 

called,  275 
"Father  of    the   American    Navy," 

Deane  called,  291 
Fayal,  shipments  to,  188 
Fayerweather  Hall  elected,  239 
Federal,    influence    of,    party,    347; 

leaders  attack  Republicans,  347 
Constitution,  reference  to,  297 ; 

ratified,  304 
Federalists,  views  of,  299;    renewed 

trade   welcomed  by,  336;  party  in 

Connecticut,    342 
Fenwick,  George,  cedes  home  to  up- 
river  colony,  15;  goes  to  Saybrook, 

15;  serves  Connecticut,  16;  presents 

seal  to  Connecticut,  99 
Fessenden,    Rev.  T.  F.,  helps  girls' 

reformatory,  450 
Field,  David  Dudley,  praises  "Prac- 
tice Act,"   98;   father  of  famous 

family,  513     . 
Field,  Jr.,  David  Dudley,  civil   law 

works  by,  513 
Fillmore,  Connecticut  votes  for,  380 
Finney,    Charles    G.,    president    of 

Oberlin,  247 
Fire  Lands,  or  the   Sufferers^  Lands, 

213;  sold  for  school  funds,  213 
First  Connecticut   Cavalry,  services 

of,  390 
First  Lessons  in  Latin,  by  Andrews, 

220 
First   Reinsurance  Company  char- 
tered, 413 
Fisher,   George  P.,  of  the  Divinity 

School,  236 
Fisher,  Fort,  Terry  captures,  389 
Fisher's   Island   Sound,  southern 

boundary  through,  175 
Fishkill,  railroad  to,  417 
Fisk,     Wilbur,     first     president     of 

Wesleyan,  242 
Fiske,  John,  lecturer  on  philosophy, 

509 

Fiske,  Moses,  punishment  of,  443 
Fitch,  Benj.,  founder  Soldiers'  Home, 

479 
Fitch,  Captain,  land  given  to,  96 
Fitch,     Ebenezer,     a     president     of 

Williams,  247 
Fitch,   Eleazer  T.,   of   the   Divinity 

School,  236 
Fitch,  John,  builds  first,  steamboat, 

313;  goes  to  France,  313;  commits 

suicide,  313;  414 


Ind 


ex 


579 


Fitch,  John  L.,  a  forest  painter,  521 
Fitch,  Rev.  James,  people  of,  settle 

Norwich,  24;  Owenico  gives  land 

to,   46;   preaches   to   Indians,    50; 

reference  to,  143;  donates  land  to 

college,  229 
Fitch,  Thomas,  revision  of  laws  by, 

273;  reference  to,  279 
Fitch's  Home  for  Soldiers  at  Darien, 

479 

Five  Nations,  treaty  with  the,  200 
Flagg,  Charles  Noel,  Potter  a  pupil 

of,  522 
Flagg,  George  W.,  works  of,  519 
Flagg,  Henry  C,  a  marine  painter, 

Flagg,  Jared  B.,  a  portrait  painter, 

519;  Life  of  Allston,  by,  519 
Flagg,  Samuel,  Black  Horse  built  by, 

Fletcher,  Colonel  Benjamin,  arrives 
to  govern  New  York,  178;  com- 
missioned to  command  militia  of 
Connecticut,  178;  orders  surrender 
of  Connecticut  militia,  179;  Wads- 
worth  outwits,  179;  a  few  men 
given  to,  180;  556 

Food,  early,  in  Connecticut,  106  ff. 

Fool's  Prayer,  The,  quoted,  509 

Foote,  Admiral  Andrew  H.,  reference 
to,  223;  from  Connecticut,  386; 
death  of,  387 

Force  Act,  Congress  passes  the,  335 

Forestry  Act,  542 

School  of,  Pinchot  gives,  239 

Fort  Griswold,  Lambert's  bravery  at, 
159;  surrenders,  290 

Fort  Griswold,  poem  by  Brainard,  503 

Fort  Trumbull  taken,  290 

Fortune,  the,  Christaensen's  ship,  5 

Fosdick,  Thomas  V.,  among  Knowl- 
ton's  Rangers,  289 

Foss,  Cyrus  D.,  succeeds  Cummings, 

243 
Foster,  Henry,  379 
Fountain,  a  temperance  journal,  410 
Fowler,  William,  leads  first  settlers 

on  Housa tonic,  20 
Framingham,     settlers     take     path 

through, II,  249 
France,  academies  of,  22 1 ;  injurious 

treatment  of,  330 
Francis,  Joane,  testifies  against  Mrs. 

Harrison,  151 
Franklin,  Gov.,  imprisoned  at  New- 
gate, 295 
Franklin,  Senj.,  reference  to,  221;  at 

convention,    298;    urges     compro- 


mise,   302;   hymns    published   by, 

529 

Free  Academy,  Slater  helps,  226 

Free  Soil  party,  378 

Freeborn,  Ward  in  command  of,  384 

Fremont,  General,  in  command  Mis- 
souri army,  383 

French  war,  effect  on  Connecticut, 
123 

Frontenac,  prisoners  burned  at,  32 

Fugill,  Thomas,  one  of  pillars  of 
church,  19,  207 

Fulton,  Robert,  Fitch's  plans  shown 
to,  313 

Fundamental  Orders  of  Connecticut, 
6t,  ff.;  Ludlow  and  framing  of,  76; 
repudiate  common  law,  92;  quoted, 
119;  referred  to,  305,  339 


Gage,  General,  Gov.  Trumbull 
writes  to,  283;  seizes  powder-house, 
283 

Galena,  Bushnell  building  the,  387 

Gallaudet,  E.  M.,  son  of  Rev.  Thomas, 
248 

Gallaudet,  Rev.  Thomas,  studies 
methods  of  teaching  deaf-mutes, 
472 

Gallop,  John,  attacks  Pequots,  38 

"Gallows  Hill,"  Greensmiths  hanged 
on,  149 

Gallup,  Capt.,  death  of,  48 

Gardener,  Lyon,  skill  of,  14;  erects 
fort,  14;  commander  of  Saybrook 
fort,  39 

Garrison,  William  L.,  statue  of,  522 

Garvin,  Albert,  superintendent  of 
Reformatory,  453 

Gazette,  Connecticut,  advertisement 
from,  quoted,  158 

New    London,     advertisement 

from,  quoted,  160 

General  Assembly,  General  Court  be- 
comes, 83;  referred  to,  85,  137,  200, 
203;  appoints  judges  for  Superior 
Court,  86;  orders  to  constables,  88; 
adds  to  the  Saybrook  Platform, 
140;  new  law  ordered  by,  141;  laws 
for  slaves  made  by,  157;  Andros 
demands  charter  of,  170;  grants 
first  mining  company  charter,  191; 
grants  favors  to  promote  indus- 
tries, 193;  grant  made  by,  212; 
gives  charter  to  college,  229;  builds 
Connecticut  Hall,  232;  grants  land 
to  Yale,   232;   Clap  and  the,  233; 


580 


Index 


General  Assembly  (Continued) 

orders  road,  250;  votes  for  stage 
drivers,  256;  appropriations  by,  for 
roads,  262;  inquiries  into  religious 
indifference,  264;  splits  town  and 
church,  272;  gives  up  church  fight, 
274;  act  passed  by,  292;  issues 
money,  320;  taxation  laws  made 
by.  323;  lotteries  for  building  al- 
lowed by,  372;  Gov.  Baldwin  and, 
377;  tramp  law  passed  by,  435; 
colony  for  epileptics  organized  by, 
478;  Yale  liquor  law  passed  by,  490 

Association,  136;  declares  slave 

trade  unjust,  161 

Court,  establishing  of,  22;  meets 

at  Hartford,  40;  decision  of,  40; 
first  court  for  Connecticut,  55; 
held  at  tavern,  57;  meetings  at 
New  Haven,  60;  definite  formation 
of,  83;  becomes  General  Assembly, 
83;  referred  to,  84,  89,  92,  129; 
adopts  Ludlow's  Code,  90;  calls 
"Reforming  Synod,"  122;  inter- 
venes in  Stone  and  Goodwin  fight, 
132;  issues  edict  to  churches,  135; 
makes  law  against  witchcraft,  146; 
letters  read  at,  182;  confederation 
signed  at,  182;  custom  laws  made 
by,  187;  appeals  for  highv>'ays  to, 
250;  orders  taverns,  255 

"General  Hospital  for  the  Insane," 
etc.,  at  Middletown,  487 

General  Hospital  Society,  chartered, 
431;  funds  voted  for,  432 

• Synod,  plans  for  college,  228 

Genesee  River,  painting  by  Kensett, 
520 

Gening,  Jo,  public  chimney  sweep, 
106 

George  III.,  Earl  paints  miniature  of, 

George  Junior  Republic,  in  Litch- 
field, 459 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  quoted,  300;  makes 
report,  302 

Ghent,  reference  to  negotiations  at, 

337 

Gibbs,  Josiah  Willard,  of  the  Divinity 
School,  236;  one  of  faculty,  238 

Gilbert,  Matthew,  one  of  pillars  of 
church,  19 

Gilbert,  W.  S.,  endows  Gilbert  Home, 

483 
Gilbert  Home,  for  children,  482 

School,  at  Winsted,  224 

Gilded  Age,  The,  by  Warner  and  Clem- 
ens, 508 


Gilman,  Daniel  C,  editor  of  maga- 
zine, 239;  president  University  of 
California,  247 

Glacial  Age,  markings  in  Connecticut 
of,  3 

Glastonbury,  24,  26,  103,  196;  Harris 
builds  mill  in,  96;  diary  of  a,  man, 
quoted,  186;  Story  takes  students 
to,  235;  pays  for  bridge,  261; 
music  in  church  of,  527 

Gleason,  Captain,  in  the  slave  trade, 
156 

Goffe,  Major-General  William,  one 
of  the  regicide  judges,  164 

Golden  Hill  Seminary,  at  Bridge- 
port, 222 

Golden  House,  The,  by  C.  D.  Warner, 
508 

Goodman,  Richard,  keeper  of  prison 
house,  438 

Goodrich,  Chauncey  A.,  professor  at 
Yale,  236 

Goodrich,  Samuel  G.,  instructive 
books  by,  504 

Goodrich  School,  girls'  school  in 
Norwich,  222 

Goodwin,  Daniel  R.,  succeeds  Wil- 
liams, 241 

Goodwin,  James,  president  of  Con- 
necticut Mutual,  406,  407 

Goodwin,  William,  Hartford  deeded 
to,  12;  ruling  elder  in  Hartford, 
132;  party  of,  withdraw  from 
church,  132 

Goodyear,  Charles,  inventor  rubber 
goods,  360,  361 

Goodyear,  Nelson,  patents  hard 
rubber,  361 

Goodyear,  Stephen,  sets  up  mill,  191 

Gookin  preaches  to  Indians,  50 

Gore,  ceded  to  the  United  States,  202 ; 
granting  and  selling  of  the,  202 

Gorges  not  admitted  to  league,  182 

Gorham  drafts  constitution,  305 

Goshen,  in  Litchfield  County,  198; 
land  granted  in,  232 

Academy  incorporated,  222 

Graham,  Sylvester,  reference  to,  4.96 

Graham  Lectures  on  Science  of  Life, 
496 

Granby,  Simsbury  now  called,  191; 
James  Kilburn  of,  205;  excavation 
begun  at,  415;  prison  in,  439 

Grant,  Matthew,  diary  of,  referred  to, 
146 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  descended  from 
Connecticut  people,  391 

Gray,  Deacon,  a  slaveowner,  157 


Index 


581 


Great  Awakening,  reference  to,  137, 
367;  start  of  the,  266 

Bethel,  Winthrop  killed  at,  508 

Britain,  contributes  to  Lebanon 

School,  52;  laws  of,  93;  prohibits 
American  produce,  335 

Green    Woods,    north    half    of 

Litchfield,  259 

Green  Momttain  Boys,  199 

Greene,  Benjamin  W.,  president 
Connecticut  Insurance,  402 

Greene,  Col.  Jacob  L.,  president 
Connecticut  Mutual  Life,  407 

Greenfield,  insurance  agency  in,  396 

Hill,  private  school  at,  221 

Green's  Farms,  Try  on  destroys,  291 

Greensmith,  Nathanael,  indictment 
of,  quoted,  148;  wife  testifies 
against,  149;  sentenced  to  death, 
149 

Greensmith,  Rebecca,  Rev.  Whit- 
ing's description  of,  148;  testifies 
against  husband,  149;  sentenced  to 
death,  149 

Greenwich,  purchase  of,  21;  admitted 
to  Confederacy,  22 ;  in  Connecticut 
boundary,  174;  loss  to,  during 
Revolution,  213;  academy  at,  222; 
home  for  nervous  at,  483 

Greenwood,  John,  Washington's  den- 
tist, 247 

Gregorian  Calendar,  establishing  of, 

93 

Gregory,  Rear- Admiral  Francis  H., 
from  Connecticut,  386 

Grenville,  George,  praises  Connecti- 
cut "Reasons,"  280 

Griffin,  Dr.,  quoted,  369 

Griffin,  Edward  S.,  a  president  of 
Williams,  247 

Griswold,  Ashbel,  finds  new  metal,  359 

Griswold,  John  A.,  cooperates  with 
Bushnell,  387;  becomes  Ericsson's 
partner,  388 

Griswold,  Matthew,  refuses  to  wit- 
ness ceremony,  280 

Griswold,  Jr.,  Matthew,  a  chief 
justice  of  Supreme  Court,  98 

Griswold,  Michael,  brings  suit  against 
Mrs.  Harrison,  152 

Griswold,  Roger,  a  Chief  Justice  of 
Supreme  Court,  98;  lawyers  elect, 

347 
Groton,  Pequot  forts  at,  38;  disaster 
in,  49;  213,  227;  Sir  John  Davie 
of,  229;  Great  Awakening  in,  267; 
Arnold  attacks,  290;  deaf  sent  to, 
474 


Bank,  Jeffrey  settles  at,  190 

Grove    Hall,    girls'    school   at    New 

Haven,  222 
Grovesner,  Thomas,  among  Knowl- 

ton's  Rangers,  289 
Guarantee  Fund,  life  insurance,  405 
Cuerrihe   defeated   in   naval  battle, 

333 

Guiana,  Dutch,  a  Hartford  slave 
from,  155 

Guilford,  settling  of,  20;  migration 
from,  21;  referred  to,  21,  103,  165, 
171;  joins  New  Haven  colony, 
76;  Rev.  Whitfield's  home  in,  104; 
Higginson  preached  in,  122;  be- 
comes a  lawful  port,  187;  Halsey 
and  Ward  from,  202;  sends  com- 
mittee to  East  Jersey,  205;  Bald- 
win born  in,  246;  Great  Awakening 
in,  267;  library  association  in,  311 

Gunn,  Frederick  W.,  founder  of  the 
Gunnery,  223 

Gunnery,  the,  at  Washington,  223 


H 


Haddam,  24;  incorporated,  25;  small 
tribe  in,  29;  Brainerd  Academy  at, 
222;  Liberty  Pole  in,  283 

,  East,  Stephen  Hosmer  of,  125 

Hadley,  disaster  in,  49;  settling  of, 
123;  angry  party  moves  to,  132; 
judges  concealed  in,  166 

Hadley,  Arthur  T.,  succeeds  Presi- 
dent Dwight,  239 

Hadley,  James,  linguist  and  philolo- 
gist, 237,  511 

Hale,  Benjamin  E.,  president  Tem- 
perance Insurance,  410 

Hale,  Mary,  testifies  against  Mrs. 
Harrison,  151 

Hale,  Nathan,  school  teacher  in 
New  London,  222 ;  a  Yale  man,  235 ; 
among  Knowlton's  Rangers,  289; 
hanged  for  spy,  289 

Half-way  Covenant,  a  blight  to 
spirituality,  123;  Second  Church 
adopts,  132;  an  explanation  of, 
132  etseq.;  reaffirmed,  133;  becomes 
general  practice,  134;  referred  to, 
143;  Bellamy  opposed  to,  275;  done 
away  with,*  370 

Hall,  Gardener,  manufactures  cotton 
thread,  363 

Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  quoted,  502 

Halsey,  Jeremiah,  proposal  of,  202 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  Wadsworth  a 
friend  of,  393;  5i6 


582 


Index 


Hamilton  College,  founder  of,  245 
Hamilton  Oneida  Academy,  Kirkland 

founder  of,  226 
Hamlin,  Jabez,  will  of,  quoted,  109 
Hampden,  18;  Ives  born  in,  519 
and  Hampshire  Canal,  canals  to 

join  the,  415 
Hampton   Roads,   Monitor  goes  to, 

388 
Hand  Academy  at  Madison,  222 
Hand,  Joseph,  gives  money  to  educate 

negroes,  226 
Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  531 
Handel,  Messiah,  531 
Hanging  Hills  of  Meriden,  forming  of, 

2 
Hanover,  school  moves  to,  52;  Wheel- 

ock's  Indian  at,  245 
Happy  Dodd,  by  Rose  T.  Cooke,  508 
Hardware  City,  New  Britain  called, 

364 
Hardy,  Sir  Thomas,  attacks  Stoning- 

ton,  333 
Harris,    Samuel,     of     the     Divinity 

School,  236 
Harris,  Thomas,  land  given  to,  96 
Harris,  William  T.,  educational  works 

by,  225 
Harrison,   Katheran,   indictment  of, 

quoted,    150;    testimony    against, 

150  et  seq.;  freed,  152 
Hart,  John,  first  Yale  graduate,  230; 

chosen  tutor  at  Yale,  230 
Hart,  Samuel,  father  of  Emma  Hart 

Willard,  504 
Hart  School  in  Farmington,  223 
Hartford,  53,  125,  483,  547;  Dudley 

Buck   born    in,    533;    increase   in 

value  of,  549 
Accident  Insurance,  changed  to 

Life  and  Annuity  Insurance,  409 
Hartford,  Brownell  on  flagship,  506 
and  Connecticut  Western  opened 

to  public,  417 
and  New  Haven  Insurance  Co. 

formed,  393 
and     New     Haven      Railroad 

opened,  416 
and    Wethersfield    Horse    Rail- 
road Co.,  419;  electric  trolley  put 

on  line,  419 
Bank,    chartered,    322 ;    Wads- 
worth  organizes,  392,  394;   meets 

insurance  crisis,  397 

Bridge  Co.  builds  bridge,  261 

Convention,  description  of  the, 

334  #. 
County  Mutual,  403 


—  County,  Sixteenth  Regiment 
from,  385 

—  Nawaa  Indians  at,  4;  Sequas- 
son  testifies  for  English  in  court 
of,  6;  Dutch  in  possession  of,  6; 
House  of  Hope  condemned  by 
court  at,  7;  Connecticut  Historical 
Society  at,  7;  deeded  to  Stone  and 
Goodwin,  12;  migration  from,  22; 
incorporated,  25,  355;  fighting 
men  from,  40 ;  General  Court  meets 
at,  40;  Mason's  army  returns  to,  44; 
Connecticut  Court  meets  at,  44; 
meeting  at,  46;  Newtowne  church 
emigrates  to,  54 ;  Newtowne  changed 
to,  56;  first  town  organization  in, 
56;  building  of  State  House  in,  60; 
people  met  at,  62;  chooses  towns- 
men, 69;  officers  of,  69;  townsmen 
in,  71;  charter  read  in,  78;  repre- 
sented in  "Corte, "  81;  first  court 
meets  in,  81 ;  Particular  Court  meets 
in,  83 ;  made  a  county,  84 ;  Supreme 
Court  to  meet  at,  86;  Common 
Pleas  Court  in,  86;  chimney  law 
voted  in,  105;  Col.  Williams  of, 
112;  woman  hanged  in,  121;  fam- 
ous quarrel  in,  131  et  seq.;  Second 
Church  formed  in,  132;  two 
consociations  in,  136;  treatment 
of  Quakers  in,  138;  Young  hanged 
in,  146;  case  of  the  Greensmiths  of, 
148;  slavery  in,  155;  slave-vessel 
sails  from,  1 56 ;  negro  ceremonies  in, 
159  ff.;  obtains  part  of  Litchfield 
County,  169;  Randolph  serves 
writs  at,  169;  Col.  Fletcher  arrives 
in,  179;  last  meeting  in,  184;  trades 
with  England,  186;  new  State 
House  for,  201 ;  first  school  in,  207; 
educational  laws  in,  208;  support 
of  schools  in,  210;  Hopkins's  gift  to, 
211;  evening  schools  in,  216;  Sem- 
inary of  Saint  Joseph  in,  224;  free 
high  school  started  in,  224;  wants 
Yale  college,  231 ;  chosen  for  Wash- 
ington College,  241;  buys  college 
campus,  241 ;  Institute  transferred 
to,  244;  Bay  Path  to,  249;  roads  to, 
253;  poor  roads  in,  253;  Adams's 
tavern  in,  255;  Black  Horse 
Tavern  in,  256;  transportation  to 
New  Haven  from,  256;  stage  route 
from  Boston  to,  257;  petition  for 
highway  to,  259;  Thomas  Caldwell 
of,  260;  ferry  near,  260;  pays  for 
bridge,  261;  a  Tory  shot  in,  294; 
State  convention  at,  304;  mail  route 


Index 


583 


Hartford  (Continued) 

to,  311;  stage  to,  312;  duck  factory 
started  at,  315;  commissioners 
meet  in,  320;  newspaper  in,  355; 
shops  in,  355;  electroplating  at,  359; 
revolvers  manufactured  in,  362; 
panic  in  insurance  world,  397; 
Connecticut  Fire  Insurance  Co.  in, 
402;  foreign  agencies  at,  403;  rail- 
road between  New  Haven  and,  417; 
poor  provided  for  in,  420;  provision 
for  sick  in,  424;  house  of  correction 
in,  426;  almshouse  built  in,  429;  dis- 
pensary in,  432;  Retreat  at,  for 
insane,  432;  report  of  committee, 
435>  436;  orphan  asylum  in,  436; 
first  jail  in,  438;  imprisonment  for 
debt  in,  446;  women  help  poor 
children,  448;  nursery  for  blind 
at,  476;  orphan  asylum  at,  479; 
St.  James  Asylum  at,  483;  home 
for  consumptives  at,  484;  Fitch 
born  in,  521;  Church  born  in, 
521 

Hartford  Courant,  advertisement  in, 
393;  Warner  editor  of,  508 

Hartford,  East,  paper-mill  in,  194 

• Female  Beneficent  Society,  for 

protection  of  minors,  479 

■ Female  Seminary,  222 

Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company,  a 
charter  for  the,  395;  Terry  meets 
losses  of,  397;  starts  city  protection, 
404 

Hartford  Home  incorporated,  479 

Hospital  incorporated,  432 

Hartford  Land  Records,  deed  recorded 
in,  12 

Hartford  Life  and  Annuity  Insurance 
Co.  chartered,  409 

Machine  Screw  Company  organ- 
ized, 359 

Marine  Insurance  Co.,  Cald- 
well president  of,  394 

Medical    Society   helps   insane, 

463  #. 

Orphan    Asylum,    united    with 

Beneficent,  479 

Philharmonic  Society,  535 

Hartford  Press,  meeting  in  office  of, 
382;  Warner  editor  of,  508 

Hartford  Retreat,  a  private  institu- 
tion, 465 

Rubber  Works,  361 

School  of  Design,  Stancliff  pres- 
ident of,  520 

Hartford  State  House  Lottery,  failure 
of,  201  et  seq. 


Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Insurance  Co.  chartered,  411 

Theological  Seminary,  Institute 

called,  244;  founding  of,  244;  Tyler 
president  of,  512 

Turnpike,  263 

"Hartford  Wits,"  influential  element 
of,  498 

Hartford  Woolen  Manufactory,  Hins- 
dale builds,  315 

Hartranft,  Chester  A.,  244 

Harvard,  New  England's  support  of, 
228;  degrees  to  students,  230; 
beginning  of  Yale  games,  238; 
Sparks  president  of,  247;  White- 
field  condemns,  270 

Harwinter,  198 

Haskell,  Captain,  of  the  Experiment, 
414 

Hastings,  Thomas,  teacher  of  music, 

531 
Hasty  Pudding,  poem  by  Barlow,  501 
Hauptmann,  Buck  a  pupil  of,  533 
Haverhill,  insurance  agency  in,  396 
Hawley,  Joseph  R.,  enlists  as  volun- 
teer, 382,  391 
Hawthorne,  505 
Hayden,  Horace  H.,  founder  of  first 

dental  college,  247 
Haynes,  John,  travels  with  Hooker, 
8;  in  procession  to  Connecticut,  12; 
party  of,  look  out  for  themselves, 
15;    referred  to,  57,   65,   76,  555; 
chosen   governor    of   Connecticut, 
72;     tries     Half-way     Covenant, 
133;   interviews  Mrs.  Greensmith 
in  prison,  149;  goes  to  Boston,  182; 
on  commission  board,  183 
Haywood  Rubber  Company  organ- 
ized, 361 
Hazard,  J.  L.,  urges  help  for  army, 

288 
Head  of  a  Roman  Girl,  by  Cheney,  518 
Heart  of  the  Andes,  Church's,  521 
Hebron,  dispute  over  lands  in,  24; 

Peters  born  in,  93 
Heminway,  Jacob,  referred  to,  230 
Hendrie  Hall  given  to  Law  School, 

239 

Henley-on-the-Thames,     torture     of 

woman  at,  32 
Henry  VIII.,  witchcraft  in  reign  of, 

146;  music  in  days  of,  525 
Henry,  Fort,  Foote's  capture  of,  386 
Herald,  Windham,  advertisements  in, 

309 
Hertford,  England,  Hartford  settlers 
from,  12 


584 


Index 


Hickok,  Laurens  P.,  president  Union 

University,  246 
Higginson,  Charles,  reference  to,  207 
Higginson,  John,  minister  with  Fen- 
wick,  15;  quoted,  114;  Testimony  to 

the  Order  of  the   Gospel,  etc.,  by, 

122;  joins  WiUiam  Hubbard,  122; 

referred  to,  124;   opens  school  in 

Hartford,  207 
High  schools,  in   Connecticut,  215; 

free,  in  Hartford,  224 
Higley,  John,  copper  cents  coined  by, 

318 
Higley,  Joseph,  patents  his  process, 

191 
Hillhouse,    James,    school    fund    in 

hands  of,  213;  treasurer  of  Yale, 

236 
Hinsdale,     Daniel,     builds     woolen 

manufactory,  315 
Hinsdale,  Theodore,  Joint  Stock  Act 

framed  by,  355 
Hinsdale  act,  316 
Historical  Society  organized,  513 
History  of  American  Currency,  etc., 

by  Sumner,  511 
of  Plymouth  Colony,  indorsement 

of,  quoted,  218 
Hitchcock,  Colonel,  a  Yale  man,  235 
Hitchcock,  Commodore  R.  B.,  from 

Connecticut,  386 
Hoadley,  C.  J.,  State  Library  libra- 
rian, 513 
Hoadley,  David,  architect,  523 ;  works 

of,  523 
Hoadley,  Silas,  maker  of  clocks,  358 
Hobbamocke,  an  Indian  devil,  33 
Holland,  Blok  sails  for,  5 
Holland,  J.  G.,  quoted,  249 
Holmes,  Captain  Jeremiah,  fights  at 

Stonington,  333 
Holmes,  Captain  William,  starts  for 

Connecticut    River,    5;    lands    at 

Farmington  River,  6 
Holy  Trinity,  Buck  organist  at,  533 
Home  for  Incurable  Children,  481 
Hong  Kong,  System  of  Practice  in, 

513 
Hooker,  Thomas,  head  of  migration 
movement,  7 ;  Laud  attacks,  8 ;  goes 
to  Holland,  8;  lands  in  Boston,  8; 
made  pastor  of  Cambridge,  8; 
voyage  to  Boston  of,  8;  in  pro- 
cession to  Connecticut,  12;  well  of, 
still  in  use,  13;  party  of,  take  care 
of  themselves,  15;  teaches  in 
Indian  school,  51;  referred  to, 
57r    65,    131,    555;    doctrines   of, 


quoted,  61 ;  reference  to  sermon  of, 
61;  laws  made  from  sermon  of,  62;^ 
author  of  constitution,  74;  Peters" 
writes  of,  95;  home  of,  105;  quoted, 
119;  Hartford  quarrel  after  death 
of,  132;  goes  to  Boston,  181; 
Strong  a  successor  of,  369 

Hopkins,  Edward,  reference  to,  6; 
appointed  commissioner  by  Con- 
necticut, 15;  head  of  settlement, 
17;  governor  seven  times,  72;  a 
slaveowner,  155;  on  commission 
board,  183;  gift  from,  for  schools, 
211 

Hopkins,  Lemuel,  one  of  "Hartford 
Wits,"  498;  quoted,  499 

Hopkins,  Samuel,  for  freeing  of 
slaves,  160;  referred  to,  274,  511; 
opposer  of  slavery,  275;  patent 
granted  to,  365;  attitude  towards 
slavery  of,  375;  essays  against 
slavery  by,  511 

Home,  Samuel,  first  enlistment,  382 

Horticultural  Society,  540 

Hosmer,  James  B.,  gives  money  to 
Institute,  244 

Hosmer,  Stephen,  election  sermon  by, 

125 

Hospital  for  Insane,  437 
Hotchkiss  school  in  Lakeville,  224 
Housatonic,  first  settlers  on  the,  20; 

Litchfield  watered  by  the,  198 
"House  of  Hope,"  Dutch  fort  called, 

6;  condemned  by  Hartford  Court, 

7 

House  of  Representatives,  branch  of 
legislature,  351 

Houses,  description  of  early,  in 
Connecticut,  104^. 

Howard,  James  L.,  starts  life  insur- 
ance, 404 

Howard,  Mark,  agent  for  Protection, 
400;  at  St.  Louis  fire,  401 ;  president 
the  Merchants,  401;  president  the 
National,  401 ;  death  of,  401 

Howe,  Elias,  maker  sewing-machine, 
362 

Howe,  Jr.,  Elias,  a  private,  385 

Hubbard,  Gurdon  S.,  .Etna's  Chicago 
agent,  399 

Hubbard,  R.  W.,  works  of,  520 

Hubbard,  Thomas,  publishes  first 
arithmetic,  220;  work  in  arithmetic 

by,  503 
Hubbard,   William,   Higginson  joms 

with,  122;  referred  to,  124 
Hudson  River  Indians,  Connecticut 

Indians  in  terror  of,  31 


Index 


585 


Hudson  River  Indians,  Mohicans,  30 

Hull,  General  William,  Brigadier- 
General,  331;  reaches  Detroit,  332; 
retreats,  332;  surrenders  to  Brock, 
332;  accused  of  treason,  332 

Hull,  Isaac,  wins  naval  battle,  333 

Humphrey,  Hector,  on  Washington's 
faculty,  241 

Humphrey,  Heman,  a  benefactor  of 
Amherst,  246 

Humphreys,  David,  one  of  "  Hartford 
Wits,"  498 

Humphreys,  General,  introduces 
Spanish  merino  sheep,  314;  maker 
of  broadcloths,  363 

Huntington,  Collis  P.,  railroad  built 

by,  365 

Huntington,  Gov.,  addresses  con- 
vention, 304 

Huntington,  Hezekiah,  refuses  to 
witness  ceremony,  280 

Huntington,  Jabez,  wonderful  chaise 
of,  254;  refuses  to  witness  cere- 
mony, 280 

Huntington,    Roger,    wagon    owned 

by..  254 

Huntington,  Samuel,  releases  the 
Gore,  202 

Hutchinson  quoted,  153 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.,  10;  teachings  of, 
121 

Hutchinson,  Timothy,  tried  for  smil- 
ing in  church,  265 

Huxley  referred  to,  240 

Hyde,  Reuben  H.,  chancellor  of 
New  York,  98 

Hypocrite's  Hope,  The,  quoted,  499 


Icebergs,  work  of  Church,  321 

"Ik   Marvel,"    Mitchell   known    as, 

507 

Illinois,     missionaries    go    to,     370; 

i^tna  helps,  farmers,  409 
College,    Collins   a   contributor 

to,  206;  Sturtevant  founder  of,  246; 

Beecher  first  president  of,  246 
Imlay,  William,    home    of,  insured, 

392 
Independence,  Fort,  expedition  lands 

at,  204 
India,  System  of  Practice  in,  513 
Indiana,  missionaries  go  to,  370 
Indian  com  made  legal  tender,  317 
Indians,   life  and  customs  of  the,  32 

ff.;  a  trial  to  settlers,  35;  English 

taught  by,  36 


Industrial  School  for  girls  at  Middle- 
town,  437,  450,  451 

IngersoU,  Jared,  commissioned  stamp- 
master,  279,  281;  forced  to  resign, 
281 

IngersoU,  Jonathan,  made  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, 348 

"  Injustice  and  Impolicy  of  Slave 
Trade,"  160 

Inman,  Henry,  Cummings  a  pupil  of, 
518 

Innocents  Abroad,  by  "  Mark  Twain, " 

509 
Insane,  Hospital  for,  437 
Intercollegiate    Baseball  Association 

founded,  238 
Inward  Light,  138 
Iowa,  JEtna.  helps,  farmers,  409 
Ipswich,    messengers    sent    to,     11; 

Hubbard  pastor  at,  122 
Ireland,  County  Tyrone  in,  190 
Irish  Commission,  Ludlow  serves  on, 

91 
Iron,  first  found  in  Connecticut,  190 

ff- 
Iroquois,  Mohawks  members  of,  31 
Isham,  General,  arrives  at  Stoning- 

ton,  334 
Isham,  Ralph,  at  Wadsworth  Gallery, 

521 
Island  Number  Ten,  fortifications  of, 

386 
Ives,  Chauncey  B.,  a  sculptor,  519; 

works  of,  519 
Ives,  Eli,  on  medical  faculty,  236 


Jackson,  General,  reference  to,  337; 

President,  Waldo's  portrait  of,  516 
Jackson,  Richard,  reference  to,  279 
Jamaica,  shipments  to,  188 
James  I.,  music  in  days  of,  525 
James  II.,  referred  to,  123;  plans  for 

New  England  by,  167  et  seq;  flees 

to  France,   172 
James,  Duke  of  York,  tract  given  to, 

173;  new  patent  granted  to,  173 
James  Blackstone   Memorial,  library 

at  Branford,  227 
Jarves,    valuable    volumes    in    the, 

gallery,  240 
Jarvis  Hall  built,  241 
Jay,  John,    192,    516;    quoted,   297; 

Federalist  views  of,  299 
Jefferson,    President,    embargo    laid 

by,  335;  election  of,  referred  to,  344; 

portrait  of,  516 


586 


Index 


Jeffrey,   Captain  John,  builds  ship, 

190 
Jephthah  and  his  Daughter,  work  of 

Augur,  517 
Jeremy  Adams's  Tavern,  court  held 

at,  57,  58 
Jerome,    Chauncey,     manufacturer 

brass  clocks,  357 
Jersey  Plan,  Patterson  presents  the, 

301;  rejected,  302 
Jewell,  Marshall,  at  Chicago  fire,  403 
Jewett  City,  cotton  industry  in,  363 
Joan  of  Arc,  by  "Mark  Twain,"  509 
Jocelyn,     Nathanael,     teacher     and 

painter,  518 
Jocelyn,   Simeon  E.,  member  Anti- 
Slavery  Society,  377 
Johns  Hopkins,  Gillman  president  of, 

247 
Johnson,  Jacob,  testimony  given  by 

widow  of,  151 
Johnson,  Mary,  executed  as  a  witch, 

146  et  seq. 
Johnson,  Samuel  A.,  a  chemist,  238 
Johnson,  Steven,  513 
Johnson,  William  Samuel,  referred  to 

73,  554;  a  Connecticut  lawyer,  97; 

early  life  of,  246;  Columbia's  first 

president,  246;    Connecticut  dele- 
gate, 298;  chosen  to  Senate,  304; 

signs  Connecticut  Compromise,  304 
Joint  Stock  Act  passed,  356 
Jones,     Deputy    Governor  William, 

one  of  special  court,  153 
Joshua,  son  of  Uncas,  25 
Journal  of  Education,  The,  by  Henry 

Barnard,  225 
of    Speculative   Philosophy,    by 

William  T.  Harris,  225 
Justice  of  the  peace,  beginning  of  the 

office,  87 


K 


Keeney,  Richard,  licensed  ferryman, 

260 
Keith,    George,    complaints    against 

Connecticut  by,  139 
Kellogg,    Henry,    secretary    of    the 

Phoenix,  402 
Kelly,  John,  reference  to  daughter  of, 

147 

Kendall,  Amos,  quoted,  330 

Kennedy  School  of  Missions,  Semi- 
nary includes,  245 

Kensett,  John  F.,  career  of,  520 

Kensington,  Percival  born  in,  502, 
517 


Kent,  20,  198,  205;  sale  of,  212;  land 

granted  in,  232 ;  Daggett,  professor 
of  law,  237;  chemical  laboratory 
given,  239 

Kent's  Commentaries,  130 

Kentucky,  praises  Connecticut  sys- 
tem, 213;  missionaries  go  to,  370 

Kiehtan,  an  Indian  god,  33 

Kies,  Mrs.  Mary,  weaving  patent 
given  to,  365 

Kilburn,  James,  a  typical  pioneer, 
205;  goes  to  Congress,  205;  presi- 
dent of  Worthington  College,  205 

Kill  Devil,  rum  from  Barbadoes,  187 

Killingly,  first  town  meeting  in,  198; 
Fitch  gives  land  in,  229;  Library 
Association  formed  by,  311;  cotton 
industry  in,  363 

Killing  worth,  founding  of,  25;  steel 
furnace  at,  191;  Abel  Buel  of,  192; 
Yale  started  in,  parsonage,  230; 
Madame  Knight  at,  251 

King  Philip,  an  Algonkin  Indian,  28 

King's  Most  Excellency  in  Council, 
petition  sent  to,  273 

Kingdom  Coming,  etc.,  song  by  Work, 

507 
Kingfisher,  Sir  Andros's  frigate,  168 
Kingsbury,  391 
Kingsley,  James  L.,  added  to  Yale's 

faculty,  235 
Kinsley,    Dr,    Apollos,    makes    first 

steam  carriage,  315 
Kirkland,  Samuel,  an  educator,  226; 

missionary  to  Indians,  245 ;  founder 

of  Hamilton  College,  245 
Kirkland    Hall    built    for    Scientific 

School,  239 
Knap,  Goodwife,  the  case  of,  147 
Knight,    Dr.   Henry  M.,   school  for 

imbeciles  started  by,  477;  death  of, 

478 
Knight,  Jonathan,  on  medical  faculty, 

236 
Knight,  Madame,  diary  of,  quoted, 

251  ff.;  reference  to,  255,  318 
Knott,  Eliphalet,  benefactor  Union 

University,  246 
Knowlton,   Thomas,   a   Connecticut 

martyr,  289 
Knowlton  s  Rangers,  officers  in,  289 
Knox,  General,  in  military  conference, 

292;  Tisdale's  portrait  of,  516 


Labrador,  28 

Lafayette,  Morse's  portrait  of,  517 


Index 


587 


Lake  Erie,  expedition  on,  204;  Porter 

at,  334 
Lake   George,   painting   by   Kensett, 

520 
Lakeville,  forge  erected  at,  192;  guns 

made    at,    192;    schools    in,    224; 

school  for  imbeciles  at,  477,  478 
Lambert,   bravery  of  negro  named, 

Lamentation,   forming  of  mountain 

called,  2 
Lampson,  Good  wife,  referred  to,  461 
Lampson  Lyceum  erected,  239 
Landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  painting  by 

Flagg,  519 
Lathrop,  Dr.  Daniel,  owner  of  early 

chaise,  254 
Laud,  William,  reference  to,  7,  77, 

140;  Puritans  rebel  against,  loi 
Law,  Andrew,  teacher  and  composer, 

531 

Law,  Gov.  Jonathan,  first  silkworms 
on  farm  of,  193;  wears  first  Con- 
necticut silk,  193 

Law,  Richard,  addresses  convention, 
304 

Law  School  established  at  Yale,  237; 
Hendrie  Hall  given  to,  239 

Lawrence  Hall  given,  239 

Lebanon,  Indian  school  in,  51;  Great 
Britain  contributes  to  school  at,  52; 
Jeremiah  Mason  born  in,  97;  re- 
ferred to,  205;  earliest  school  at, 
221 ;  Great  Awakening  in,  267;  Earl 
born  in,  515 

Lechford  quoted,  102 

Ledyard,  Colonel  Wm.,  Lambert  kills 
slayer  of,  1 59 ;  in  command  of  forts, 
290;  surrenders  and  is  killed,  290 

Lee,  Dr.,  at  McLean  Asylum,  464 

Lee,  R.  H.,  quoted,  305 

"Lee's  Windham  Bilious  Pills,"  an 
early  patent  medicine,  309 

Leete,  Andrew,  171 

Leete,  Governor  William,  work  of, 
103;  indictment  of  Mrs.  Harrison 
made  under,  150;  mandate  from 
king  to,  165;  objects  to  king's 
mandate,  165;  reports  to  Privy 
Council,  188 

Leete's  Island,  stone  from,  262 

Leffingwell,  Christopher,  a  paper 
manufacturer,  194;  one  of  "com- 
mittee," 283 

Leffingwell,  Thomas,  takes  food  to 
Uncas,  23 

Lehigh    University,  Packer's  gift  to, 

2?6 


Lehigh  Valley  Railroad,  Packer  devel- 
ops, 226 
Leicester,   Huntington's  wagon  goes 

to,  254 
Leisler,  Governor,  asks  Connecticut 

for  troops,  178 
Leland,  Rev.  John,  for  separation  of 

church  and  state,   343;    Right   of 

Conscience   Inalienable,    by,    343; 

attacks  charter  of  Charles  II.,  343; 

speeches  published  by,  345;  pleads 

for  religious  liberty,  346 
Letters  to  Young  Ladies,  by  Mrs.  Sig- 

ourney,  504 
Lewis,  John,  arrest  of,  443 
Lexington,  views  of  battle  at,   192; 

reference  to,  259 
Liberty  poles  erected,  283  • 
Life  and  Death,  painting  by  Potter, 

522 
and  Letters  of  Washington  All- 

ston,  by  J.  B.  Flagg,  519 
and    Writings    of    Washington, 

etc.,  by  Sparks,  502 

of  Henry  Clay,  by  Prentice,  505 

Light  of  Asia,  The,  oratorio  by  Buck, 

.533 

Lime  Rock,  ore  forged  at,  192 

Limited  Liability  Act,  English,  356 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  Baldwin  votes  for, 
379;  calls  for  men,  385;  Wright's 
portrait   of,    522 

Lincoln,  General,  Comwallis  surren- 
ders to,  292 

Lion  Fire  Insurance,  agency  at  Hart- 
ford, 403 

Litchfield,  uninhabited,  29;  Common 
Pleas  Court  in,  86;  first  law  school 
in,  97;  law  reports  from,  97;  first 
carriage  in,  109;  division  of, 
197;  Ethan  Allen  born  in,  199; 
Collins  brothers  from,  206;  first 
girls'  school  in,  222;  Bushnell  born 
111,275,505;  highway  to,  259;  first 
cavalry  formed  in,  285;  stage  to 
New  York  from,  312;  convention 
held  at,  347 ;  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
born  in,  379;  George  Junior  Re- 
public in,  459;  Dickenson  bom  in, 
518 

Beechers,  373 

County,  Hartford  and  Windsor 

obtain,  169;  forges  in,  192;  organi- 
zation of.  County,  198;  Vermont 
child  of,  County,  199 

County  Choral  Union  at  Nor- 
folk, 534 

County  Home,  wards  of  the,  483 


588 


Ind 


ex 


Litchfield,  Law  School,  Tappan  Reeve 
of,  156;  discontinued,  237 

Mutual,  403 

Little  Plain,  reference  to,  118 

Little  Red  Schoolhouse,  214 

Local  Option  Law,  493 

Locomotive,  The,  a  monthly  journal, 
412 

London,  John  Trumbull  m,  515 

Bishop  of,  complaints  of  Con- 
necticut reported  to,  139 

and  Lancashire,   Orient  under 

the,  403 

Long  Island,  purchase  and  settling 
of  land  on,  21 ;  Pequots  conquer,  30; 
Connecticut  people  in,  206;  pre- 
parations begun  on,  287 

Sound,     Connecticut's 

boundary  on,  I ;  British  leave,  334; 
canal  from  Southwick   Ponds   to, 

415 

Long  Wharf,  trade  headquarters,  355 
Loomis,  Elias,  a  mathematician,  237 
Loomis,  Simeon  L.,  president  of  the 

Phoenix,  402 
Lord,  Dr.,  Rogers  besets,  142 
Lords    of    Trade    and    Plantations, 

religious    character    explained    to, 

135 
Louisburg,   expedition  against,   320; 

Wolcott  at,  497 
Louisville  Journal,  Prentice  editor  of, 

505 

Lounsbury,  Thomas  A.,  becomes  one 
of  faculty,  238 

Loyalists,  293 

Ludlow,  Roger,  ignores  claims  of 
Pilgrims,  13;  settles  Fairfield,  21; 
made  an  authority,  55;  referred 
to,  65,  555;  family  and  early  hfe 
of,  74  et  seq.;  chosen  assistant, 
75;  for  the  people,  75;  on  the 
Connecticut,  75 ;  Fundamental 
Orders  framed  by,  76;  one  of  the 
"Corte, "  81;  provisions  of  code  of, 
87,  90;  puts  laws  into  shape,  90; 
General  Court  adopts  code  of,  90; 
code  in  Colonial  Records,  91 ;  leaves 
Connecticut,  91 ;  returns  to  Dublin, 
91 ;  serves  on  Irish  Commission,  91 ; 
made  Master  in  Chancery,  91;  on 
commission  board,  183 

Lundy's  Lane,  Porter  at,  334 

Luther,  Flavel  S.,  President  of 
Trinity,  242 

Lyme,  fight  for  possession  of,  24; 
brilliant  men  from,  98 ;  iron  works 
in,  192;  salt  manufactured  in,  193; 


Black  Hall  School  in,  223;  library 

association  in,  311 
Lyon,  General  Nathanael,  death  of, 

383 
Lyon   Regiment,   from    New   Haven 

County,  385 


M 


McClellan,  Esquire,   referred  to, 

255 

McCurdy,  Judge  C.  J.,  98 

McFingal,  a  Modern  Epic,  by  John 
Trumbull,  500 

Mcintosh  comes  to  America,  314 

McLean  Asylum,  Dr.  Lee  at,  464 

Macaulay,  Lord,  quoted,  207 

Mackenzie,  William  Douglas,  244 

Madeira,  shipments  to,  188 

Madison,  President  James,  at  con- 
vention, 298 ;  declaration  of  war  by, 
330;  dissatisfaction  with,  334 

Madison,  Indians  at,  28;  academy  at, 
222 ;  Scranton  Memorial  Library  at, 
227 

Magistrates,  Court  of,  establishing  of, 
21 

Magnalia,  Mather's,  quoted,  147 

Maine  Law,  492 

Malborne,    Godfrey,    a    slaveowner, 

155 
Mamousin,  a  "praying  Indian,"  52 
Manchester,  24;   evening  schools  in, 

216,  pays  for  bridge,  261 
Manhadoes,  165 
Mann,  Horace,  464 
Mansfield,  dispute  over  lands  in,  24; 

in  tract  given  to  Mason,  25;  Dr. 

Aspinwall  of,    193;  center  of  silk 

business,    314;    silkworm   in,   36^;^ 

epileptic  colony  at,  478  ' 
Center,   Cummings  a   resident 

of,  518 

Guards,  a  militia  company,  382 

Silk  Co.,  sewing  silk  made  at, 

364 
Mansfield,  Joseph  K.  F.,  wounded  at 

Antietam,  384,  385 
Manual    of    Naval     Tactics,     Ward 

author  of,  384 
Marching  Through  Georgia,  song  by 

Work,  507 
Marco  Bozzaris,  by  Halleck,  quoted, 

502 
Marett,  Philip,  donation  to  library, 

227 
Marietta  College,  Andrews  president 

of,  245 


Index 


589 


"  Mark  Twain, "  S.  L.'Clemens,  works 

of,  509 
Market  Gardeners'  Association,  540 
Marlborough,    disaster  in,    49;   Bay- 
Path  through,  249 
Marsh,     Othniel     C.,     professor     of 

paleontology,  237,  511 
Marshall,  Capt.,  death  of,  48 
Martha's  Vineyard,  Blok  explores,  4 
Martin,  Luther,  writes  of  convention, 

301,  302 
Mary,    William,   and,   come   to    the 

throne,  172 
Mason,  on  commission  board,  183 
Mason,  Captain  John,  helps  Uncas, 
23;  buys  rest  of  Mohican  country, 
23;  settles  Norwich,  23;  disputes 
over  land  deeded  to,  24;  son  of  Un- 
cas wills  tract  to,  25;  heads  ninety 
Englishmen,  40;  reaches  Pequots' 
country,  41;  plans  for  besieging 
Pequots  of,  41;  attacks  Pequots, 
42  et  seq.;  ordered  to  carry  on  war, 
44 ;  tracks  of  Sassacus,  45 ;  statue  of, 
46;  fatally  injured,  48;  grandson 
of,  teaches,  51;  general  training 
officer,  72;  associate  of  Ludlow,  75; 
first  officer  in  Connecticut,  no; 
indictment  of  Mrs.  Harrison  made 
under,  150;  adviser  of  Uncas,  178 
Mason,  Jeremiah,  a  United  States 
Senator,  97;  attorney-general  of 
New  Hampshire,  98;  influenced  by 
Smalley,  275 
Mason  family,  Mohican  trustees,  178 
Mason,  settlement  of,  denied  admis- 
sion to  league,  182 
Massachusetts,  people  tire  of  author- 
ity in,  7 ;  people  allowed  to  go  from, 
11;  reference  to,  15,  93;  claims 
Pequot  country,  16;  tries  to  keep 
settlers,  17;  avenges  murder  of 
Oldham,  38;  recognition  of  Con- 
necticut by,  54;  Court  institutes 
government  for  Connecticut,  55; 
Connecticut  severs  political  de- 
pendence on,  55;  Connecticut  au- 
thority from,  56,  81,  90;  advice  to 
New  Haven  from,  80;  laws  of, 
96  et  seq.;  orders  Pynchon's  book 
burned,  121;  loss  of  franchise  in, 
129;  refuses  to  call  a  Synod,  133; 
dislike  for  Baptists  in,  139;  thought 
too  grasping,  164;  charter  of, 
vacated,  170;  make  their  boundary, 
176;  gets  some  of  Connecticut's 
land,  176;  and  Connecticut  com- 
promise, 176;  claims  Narragansett 


country,  177;  Rhode  Island  in,  177; 
leagues  with  other  colonies,  181 
et  seq.;  population  of,  181 ;  disagrees 
with  Plymouth,  182;  people  from, 
in  Western  Reserve,  204;  liberal 
provisions  for  education  in,  216; 
protests  against  Connecticut  col- 
lege, 228;  mint  in,  318;  tax  system 
copied  from,  323;  delegates  from, 
336 

Bay,  Blok  enters,  5 

Body  of    Liberties  of,  Connec- 
ticut takes  articles  from,  90 

Court  of  Assistants,  554 

^Insane  Hospital,  Woodward  phy- 
sician at,  465 
Master  in  Chancery,  Ludlow  made, 
91 

of  Arts,  Yale  gives  degree  of,  230 

Match  Girl,  work  of  Flagg,  519 
Mather,  Cotton,  quoted,  8,  57;  Mag- 

nalia  of,  quoted,  147 
Mather,  Increase,  149 
Mather,     Rev.     Samuel,     letter    of, 

quoted,  124 
Mathias  Point,  Ward  killed  at,  384 
Mattabesett,  exploring  of,  23 
Mattatuck,  or  Naugatuck,  25 
Matthews,     Mayor,    imprisoned     at 

Newgate,  296 
Maumee  River,  Hull  sends  supplies 

from,  331 
May,     Rev.     Samuel     J.,     member 

Anti-Slavery  Society,  376 
Mechanics  Bank  of  New  Haven  char- 
tered, 415 
Medical  Institution  of  Yale  chartered, 

236 
Meditations  on  Man's  First  or  Fallen 

Estate  quoted,  497 
Meigs,  Col.,  attack  by,  291 
Meigs,  Professor,  one  of  faculty,  235 
Memorial   organ   in  Woolsey    Audi- 
torium, 239 
Merchants,    the,    incorporated,    401 ; 

Chicago  fire  ruins,  401 
Meriden,  evening  schools  in,  216; 
free  high  school  in,  224;  the  Bulk- 
ley  School  in,  224;  silver  industries 
in,  359;  railroad  from  New  Haven 
to,  416;  reform  school  built  at, 
448;  the  Curtis  Home  at,  482; 
home  for  consumptives  at,  484;  re- 
ferred to,  483 

Britannia  Company  started,  359 

Hanging  Hills  of,  forming  of,  2 

Merrill,   Hezekiah,  cashier  Hartford 
Bank,  322 


590 


Ind 


ex 


Merrimac,  messengers  sent  to,  ii 

Merrimac,  The,  at  Hampton  Roads, 
387;  a  menace  to  navy,  388 

Merry's  Museum,  504 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  wants 
college,  242 

Metropolitan  Museum,  portrait  of 
Jackson  at,  516 

Miantonomo,  nephew  of  Canonicus, 
3 1 ;  signs  peace  treaty,  45  et  scq. 

Michigan,  Connecticut  people  in,  206; 
school  system  of,  206 

Middlebury,  Westover  School  in,  224; 
insurance  agency  in,  396 

Middlesex,  division  of,  197 

Mutual,  403 

Middle  town.  Sequin  Indians  at,  4; 
Blok  arrives  at,  4;  establishing  of, 
23;  capital  of  the  Sequins,  29; 
referred  to,  29,  483,  547;  Jabez 
Hamlin  of,  109;  Williaiu  Rus- 
sell of,  125;  sea  captains  from, 
156;  ship  belonging  to,  186;  lead 
mine  near,  191;  free  high  school 
at,  224;  academy  started  in,  242; 
theological  school  in,  245;  conven- 
tion at,  308;  bank  organized  in,  322; 
savings  bank  in,  322;  Mansfield 
Guards  of,  382 ;  hospital  for  insane 
at,  432;  care  of  children  in,  436; 
Industrial  School  for  girls  at,  450, 
451;  State  institution  at,  467; 
orphan  asylum  at,  479;  Shumway 
born  in,  518;  Hubbard  born  in, 
520 

and  Berlin  railroad,  the,  char- 
tered, 417 

■ Insurance  Co.  organized,  398 

Manufacturing  Co.,  steam  first 

used  in,  363 

Milford,  first  settlement  on  the 
Housatonic,  20;  settling  of,  20; 
migration  from,  21;  Indians  at,  28; 
Indians  sell  land  near,  35;  joins 
New  Haven  colony,  76;  judges  hide 
in,  166;  becomes  a  lawful  port,  187; 
sends  committee  to  East  Jersey, 
205;  senior  class  goes  to,  230 

Miller,  Emily  Huntington,  a  writer, 
508 

Miller,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  332 

Miller,  Phineas,  becomes  Whitney's 
partner,  365 

Mills,  Samuel  J.,  the  father  of  foreign 
missions,  275 

Minister's  Wooing,  by  H.  B.  Stowe, 
,506 

Mirror,  Brainard  editor  of  the,  503 


Mississippi  River,  200 

Missouri,  Fremont  in  command  of 
army  at,  383 

Mitchell,  Donald  G.,  editor  of 
magazine,  239;  works  of,  507,  508; 
portraits  of  family  of,  517 

Mitchell,  Stephen  M.,  at  convention, 
350 

Mitchell,  Walter,  secretary  insur- 
ance company,  396;  responsible  for 
forming  of  ^tna  Co.,  398 

Mobile  Bay,  Brownell  at  battle  of, 
506 

Mohawks,  collect  tribute  from  Con- 
necticut Indians,  31;  Indians  fear 
the,  31;  Sassacus  beheaded  by, 
45;  near  colonies,  181 

Mohican  fields,  new  road  through  the, 

..'  251 

Mohican  Indians,  urge  Pilgrims  to 
go  to  Connecticut,  5;  Mason  buys 
rest  of,  country,  23;  decision  against 
the,  24;  on  Thames  River,  30;  re- 
ferred to,  31,  177;  treaty  with  Con- 
necticut, 46;  Fitch  tries  to  Christ- 
ianize, 50;  sell  and  grant  all  their 
land,  178 

Momaguin,  land  bought  from,  18 

Monitor,  building  of  the,  387 

Monroe,  Fortress,  in  danger,  388 

Montauk,  Blok  passes,  4 

Montville,  woolen  machinery  at,  363 

"Moodus  Noises,"  29 

Moor,  Joshua,  leaves  land  for  school, 
51 

"Moor  Indian  Charity  School,"  in 
Lebanon,  51 

Morgan,  J.  Pierpont,  524 

Morgan,  John,  president  Bridge  Co., 
261;  forms  Insurance  Co.,  393;  re- 
ferred to,  394 

Morgan,  Nathanael  H.,  Hartford 
Home  started  by,  479 

Morgan  Memorial,  524 

Morris,  Robert,  Wadsworth  a  friend 
of,  393 

Morse,  Jedediah,  maps  for  geography, 
192;  encyclopedia  by,  219;  first 
geography  by,  219;  pupil  of  Silli- 
man,  236;  work  in  geography  by, 
503;  Augur  a  pupil  of ,  516;  father 
of  Samuel  F.  B.,  517 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B.,  a  portrait 
painter,  517;  first  daguerreotype 
by,  517;  artistic  career  of,  517 

Mortlake  and  Pomfret  library,  311 

Morton,  Thomas,  quoted,  36 

Mosaic  code  in  England,  92 


Ind 


ex 


591 


Moscheles,  Buck  a  pupil  of,  533 

Mossock,  Eunice,  51 

Mossock,  Solomon,  51 

Mott,  Mistress,  reference  to,  310 

Mouice,  John,  referred  to,  58 

Moulton,  Louise  C,  songs  and  lyrics 
by,  508 

Mount  Carmel  Children's  Home,  482 

Hope,  King  Philip's  fort  at,  47 

Mozart,  work  of,  531 

Mumford,  Thomas,  one  of  "com- 
mittee," 283 

Munger,  Gilbert,  "painter,  poet, 
patriot,"  523 

Munson,  Captain  John,  first  stage- 
driver,  256 

Munson,  Eneas,  on  medical  faculty, 
236 

Mutual  Assurance  Co.  of  Norwich 
incorporated,  398 

Benefit  of  New  Jersey,  404 

Security    Company    organized, 

402 

My  Farm  of  Edgewood,  by  Mitchell, 
508 

Myner,  Thomas,  sent  to  Hartford 
to  study,  50 

Mystic,  Pequot  forts  at,  29;  Con- 
necticut claims,  78 

English  School,  224 

River,  boundary  line,  177 


N 


Nahant,  Blok  sails  as  far  as,  5 
Nantasket,  Ludlow  lands  in,  74 
Nantucket,   Blok  explores,  4;    com- 
petition between  Connecticut  and, 

313 

Napoleon,  England  at  war  with,  330; 

orders  confiscation  of  ships,  335 
Narber  preaches  to  Indians,  50 
Narragansett,     Massachusetts    and 

Connecticut  both  claim,  177 
Narragansetts,    besiege    Uncas,    23; 

connections  of,  30;  only  tribe  not 

conquered  by    Pequots,   31;     sign 

treaty  of  peace  with  English,  39; 

Pequots  try  to  make  allies  of,  39; 

Miantonomo    sachem    of    the,  45; 

treaty  with  Connecticut,  46;  very 

powerful,  181 
National,  Merchants  under  charter  of, 

401 
Academy  of  Design,  Morse  first 

president    of,     517;     Shumway    a 

student  at,  518;  J.  B.  Flagg's  work 

at,  519;  Hubbard  a  member  of,  520 


National  Era,  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin 
published  in  the,  506 

Nature  and  the  Supernatural  God,  etc., 
by  Bushnell,  505 

Naugatuck  or  Mattatuck,  25 

River,    Litchfield   watered    by 

the,  198;  Humphrey  builds  on, 
363 

Nawaas,  Indian  tribe  at  Hartford,  4; 
at  South  Windsor,  29 

Netherlands,  reference  to,  no 

New  Amsterdam,  becomes  New  York, 
173 

Britain,  Normal  School  at,  214, 

216,  225;  evening  schools  in,  216; 
trade  school  in,  216;  free  high 
school  in,  224;  hardware  manu- 
facture in,  364;  Children's  Home  at, 
481;  referred  to,  483;  increase  in 
value,  549 

Canaan  in  Connecticut  bound- 
ary, 175 

— — -  Cheshire,  Bellamy  born  in,  275 

New  Connecticut,  later  named  Ver- 
mont, 199 

Connecticut,  by  Alcott,  505 

New  Divinity  doctrine,  370 

England,  towns  join  confeder- 
acy of,  21;  Puritans  emigrate  to, 
77',  joyous  over  charter,  78;  Pyn- 
chon's  book  in,  121 ;  ruling  elders  in, 
132;  orders  against  Quakers  in,  138; 
enemies  scheme  to  consolidate,  140; 
indictment  against  witches  in, 
145;  unsettled  state  of,  164;  Sir 
Andros  to  be  governor-in-chief  of, 
168;  in  expedition  against  Canada, 
178;  Harvard  supported  by,  228; 
Indian  paths  in,  249;  birth  of, 
theology,  274;  commissioners  from, 
308;  discontent  in,  334  #. 

New  England's  Canaan,  by  Thomas 
Morton,  36 

New  England  Conference  purchases 
grounds,  242 

"  New  England  Farm  Scene  Painter, " 
Durrie  called  the,  520 

New  England  First  Fruits  quoted,  126 

New  England  Institution  for  BHnd, 

474 

New  England  Psalm-singer  published, 

526 
New  England  Union,  forming  of  the, 

15 

Neiv  England  Weekly  Review,  Pren- 
tice in  charge  of,  505 

New  Hampshire,  Mason  attornej''- 
general  in,  97;   slave  dealings  in, 


592 


Index 


New  Hampshire  (Continued) 

156;   Connecticut  people  in,   206; 

Wheelock's  Indian  school  in,  245; 

delegates  from,  336;  canal  extended 

to,  416 
New  Hampshire  Grants,  Allen  moves 

to,  199 
New  Hartford,  198;  asks  for  highway, 

259 

Haven,    15,    21,    82,   93,    167, 

483,  547;  new  settlement  at,  17; 
elaborate  homes  in,  ij  et  seq.;  mi- 
gration from,  21;  courts  to  sit  at, 
22;  Indians  hold  bay  of,  28;  meeting 
place  in,  60;  townsmen  in,  71; 
foundations  laid  for,  76;  Milford 
and  Guilford  join,  76;  within  Con- 
necticut boundary,  78 ;  remonstrates 
with  Connecticut,  78;  does  not 
recognize  Connecticut  government, 
79;  towns  of,  secede,  79;  received 
separate  laws  from  England,  79; 
claims  taxes  from  towns,  79;  Mas- 
sachusetts advises  to  yield,  80; 
given  to  York  without  her 
knowledge,  80;  prefers  Connecti- 
cut to  York,  80;  joins  Connecticut, 
80;  made  a  county,  84;  Supreme 
Court  to  meet  at,  86;  Common 
Pleas  Court  in,  86;  worshipers  in, 
121;  church  in,  126;  loss  of  fran- 
chise in,  129;  change  of  church 
rules  in,  133;  voluntary  support  of 
religion  in,  134;  one  of  consociations 
in,  136;  treatment  of  Quakers  in, 
138;  makes  law  against  witchcraft, 
146;  no  executions,  153;  negroes 
suggest  college  in,  161;  regicide 
judges  escape  to,  165;  officers  of 
the  king  go  to,  165;  population  of, 
181;  leagues  with  other  colonies, 
181  et  seq.;  commerce  between 
Barbadoes  and,  186;  dangerous  trip 
to  Boston  from,  186;  becomes  a 
lawful  port,  187;  first  window  glass 
made  in,  193;  expedition  leaves, 
205;  school  in,  207;  free  school 
ordered  in,  207;  educational  law  in, 
208;  support  of  school  in,  210; 
Hopkins's  gift  to,  211;  normal 
school  at,  216;  evening  schools  in, 
216;  Grove  Hall  School  at,  222; 
free  high  school  in,  224;  free  public 
library  in,  227;  ministers  meet  in, 
228;  college  wanted  in,  228;  college 
trustees  meet  in,  229;  wants  Yale 
College,  230;  trustees  vote  for  Yale 
at,  23 1 ;  first  commencement  at,  231 ; 


women  give  infirmary,  239;  taverns 
in,  255;  transportation  from  Hart- 
ford to,  256;  Great  Awakening  in, 
267 ;  asks  for  Ingersoll's  resignation, 
281;  Tryon's  march  on,  287 ;  Tryon's 
attack  on,  291 ;  Sherman  moves  to, 
298;  mail  route  to,  311 ;  Connecticut 
Gazette  started  at,  3 1 1 ;  stage  to,  3 1 2 ; 
type  foundry  at,  313;  Connecticut 
Silk  Society  at,  314;  linen  factories 
at,  315;  bank  organized  in,  322; 
savings  bank  in,  322 ;  meeting  held 
at,  347,  348;  incorporated,  355; 
newspaper  in,_  355 ;_  shops  in,  355; 
commerce  revived  in,  355;  Center 
Church  in,  357;  Goodyear  born  in, 
360;  rubber  shoes  made  in,  361; 
Mutual  Security  Company  in,  402 ; 
American  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Co.  of,  407;  canal  from  Southwick 
to,  415;  railroad  from  Meriden  to, 
416;  railroad  from  Hartford  to,  417; 
trains  from  New  York  to,  41 7 ;  trains 
between  New  London  and,  417; 
help  for  poor  in,  420;  residence  law 
in,  422;  house  of  correction  in,  426; 
workhouse  in,  431;  dispensary  in, 
432 ;  care  of  children  in,  436;  orphan 
asylum  at,  479 ;  St.  Francis  Orphan 
Asylum  at,  483 ;  Winthrop  born  at, 
508;  Jocelyn  born  in,  518;  Durrie 
born  in,  520;  population  of,  548; 
increase  in  value,  549 

and  Northampton  Co.,  or- 
ganized, 415;  chartered,  417 

Anti-Slavery    Society 

founded,  377 

New  Haven's  Case  Stated,  paper  pre- 
sented to  Connecticut,  80 

New  Haven  Clock  Company,  Jerome 
forms,  357 

Colony,  fundamental  arti- 
cles of,  19 

Confederacy,  towns    ad- 
mitted to,  22 

County,  Fifteenth  Regi- 
ment from,  385 

Court  House,  524 


New  Haven  Gazette,  Anarchiad  pub- 
lished in,  498 

New  Haven  Grays,  the,  a  militia 
company,  382 

Hartford,  and  Springfield 

consolidated,  417 

Hospital,  appropriation  to, 

432 

Insurance    Co.,  Shipman 

establishes,  393 


Index 


593 


New  Haven  Orphan  Asylum,  char- 
tered, 481 

Symphony  Orchestra,  535 

Theology,  512 

■ Turnpike,  263 

Jersey,    commissioners    from, 

178,  308;  Connecticut  people  in, 
206 

Lights,  dissensions  between  Old 

and,  271  ff.;  the,  in  Connecticut, 

367 

• London,  settling  of,  22 ;    Mason 

and  Stoughton  at,  44;  Particular 
Court  held  in,  83;  made  a  county, 
84;  Common  Pleas  Court  in,  86; 
first  printing-press  set  up  in,  114; 
one  of  consociations  in,  136; 
Quaker  meeting  broken  up  in,  139; 
Rogerines  make  trouble  near,  142; 
negroes'  building  in,  opposed,  158; 
southern  boundary  to,  lighthouse 
of,  1 75 ;  Dolphin,  a  ship  belonging  to, 
186;  commerce  carried  on  from, 
187;  referred  to,  187,  227,  483, 
547;  coas,ters  and  skippers  of,  189; 
first  shipbuilder  of,  189;  first  light- 
house at,  190;  reputation  for  large 
ships,  190;  educational  law  in,  208; 
evening  schools  in,  216;  punishment 
in  schools  in,  220;  girls'  academy  at, 
222;  women's  college  to  open  in, 
243;  road  from  Norwich  to,  250; 
first  post  road  through,  250; 
Arnold  attacks,  290;  post-office  at, 
311;  mail  route  to,  311;  whaling 
port,  312;  ships  at,  313;  savings 
bank  in,  322;  Union  Bank  in,  322; 
militia  meet  in,  333;  ammunition 
comes  from,  334;  silk  industry  in, 
364;  railroad  from  Norwich  to,  416; 
trains  between  New  Haven  and, 
417;  trains  from  Stonington  to,  417; 
house  of  correction  in,  426 

County,  177 

County  Mutual,  403 


New  London  Gazette,  advertisement 
from,  quoted,  160 

New  London  Northern,  the,  char- 
tered, 417 

New  London  Summary  started,  311 

Tryall,  New  London's  first 

merchant  vessel,  189 

New  London  Turnpike  Co.,  charter 
of,  259 

Milford,    198;     Sherman    from, 

298 

Netherlands,  Charles  gives,  to 

brother,  200 

38 


Orleans,  Jackson's  victory  at, 

337 

Preston,  Wauramaug  school  at, 

223 

New  Way,  527 

New  York,  93, 141 ;  Hyde  chancellor  of , 
98 ;  Miss  Crandall  confers  with  abo- 
litionists of,  161 ;  thought  too  grasp- 
ing, 164;  boundary  dispute  with 
Connecticut,  172  et  seq.;  New 
Amsterdam  becomes,  173;  bound- 
ary agreement  between  Connec- 
ticut and,  quoted,  173;  does  not 
abide  by  agreement,  1 73 ;  boundary 
claims  of,  174;  conference  between, 
and  Connecticut,  174;  boundaries 
of,  175;  new  governor  of,  178;  in 
expedition  against  Canada,  178; 
Connecticut  sends  troops  to,  178; 
commissioners  from,  178;  coast 
trade  with,  189;  battery  guns  at, 
192;  claims  Connecticut  territory, 
199;  Connecticut  people  in,  206; 
women  give  Yale  infirmary,  239; 
mounted  post  from  Boston  to,  250; 
Madame  Knight  travels  to,  251; 
Connecticut  soldiers  in,  286,  287; 
stage  from  Litchfield  to,  312;  stage 
connections  with,  355;  missiona- 
ries go  to,  370;  insurance  agency  in, 
396;  great  fire  of,  397;  trains  from 
New  Haven  to,  417 

and  New  Haven,  consol- 
idated, 417;  opened  to  public,  417 

,  New  Haven,  and  Hart- 
ford, 419 

and   Stonington  Railroad 

Company,  416 

,    Bank    of,     Wadsworth 

president  of,  393 

City  Hall,  portrait  of  La- 
fayette in,  517 

,  Providence,  and  Boston 

Railroad  Co.,  416 

New  York  World  quoted,  383 

Newark,  migration  from  Connecticut 
to,  21;  expedition  arrives  at,  205 

Newberry,  Walter,  gives  to  library, 
226 

Newbury,  John  H.,  organ  given  by 
family  of,  239 

Newberry  Library,  Newberry's  dona- 
tion to,  226 

Newbury  makes  offers  to  settlers,  17 

Newgate,  referred  to,  85;  Loyalists 
imprisoned  at,  295;  fortunes  of 
prison  at,  439;  prison  in,  439; 
women  prisoners  at,  440 


594 


Ind 


ex 


Newington,  brick  supply  in,  3;  re- 
ferred to,  24,  196;  Home  for  Incur- 
ables at,  481 

Newman,  Robert,  meeting  held  in 
barn  of,  18,  76;  one  of  pillars  of 
church,   19 

Newton,  Hubert  A.,  an  astronomer, 

237 

Newtowne,  discontent  in,  7;  church 
goes  to  Hartford,  54;  changed  to 
Hartford,  56 

Niagara  Falls,  expedition  reaches,  204 ; 
painting  of,  by  Earl,  515 

Niantic,  Mason's  party  reaches,  42 

Niantics,  connections  of  the,  30 

Nichols,  James,  secretary  of  Nation- 
al, 401 

NicoUs,  Colonel  Richard,  arrival  of, 
80;  Winthrop  yields  Long  Island 
to,  80;  Dutch  surrender  to,  173 

Niemeyer,  John  H.,  523 

Niles,  J.  M.,  votes  admission  of 
Texas,  379 

Ninigret,  a  Pequot  chief,  38 

Nipmuck,  settlers  go  to,  198 

Nipmucks  in  Tolland  and  Windham, 
29 

Norfolk,  land  granted  in,  232 ;  Mans- 
field captures,  385;  Alcott  opens 
school  in,  504;  Choral  Union  at,  534 

Normal  schools  in  Connecticut,  216; 
at  New  Britain,  225 

North,  James,  starter  of  hardware 
industry,  364 

North  Haven,  brick  supply  in,  3;  18 

Lebanon,  Wheelock  pastor  at, 

245 

Madison,  Munger  born  in,  522 

Northam,  Charles  H.,  hall  named  for, 
242 

Northampton,  disaster  in,  49;  Ed- 
wards preaches  in,  125  et  seq.; 
Great  Awakening  in,  266 

Northfield,  disaster  in,  49 

Northrop,  B.  G.,  originator  of  Arbor 
Day,  225 

Northrop,  Cyrus,  president  Univer- 
sity of  Minnesota,  247 

Norton,  Captain,  killed  by  Pequots, 
38 

Norton,  Humphrey,  banishment  of, 
138 

Norton,  John  P.,  starts  chemistry 
school,  238 

Norwalk,  settling  of,  23;  evening 
schools  in,  216;  Tryon  destroys, 
291;  stage  to,  312;  manufactures 
started  in,  314 


Norwich,  partly  on  glacial  sand  plain, 
3;  preparations  for  settling  of,  23; 
settling  of,  24;  Uncas  sells  lots  near, 
46;  vote  passed  in,  96;  inventory 
of  possessions  of  a  lady,  112;  Dr. 
Bushnell  of,  114;  bounties  given  for 
rattlesnakes  in,  118;  reference  to, 
124,  207,  227,  483,  547;  Rogerines 
arrested  in,  142;  collectors  appoint- 
ed in,  143;  Uncas  deeds,  177;  first 
paper  manufactured  in,  194;  even- 
ing schools  in,  216;  girls'  seminary 
in,  222;  indicted  for  failing  in 
schools,  223;  Academy  removed  to, 
242;  Fitch  a  native  of,  247;  road 
from  New  London  to,  250;  first 
chaise  in,  254;  sale  of  church  pews 
in,  274;  gift  of,  281 ;  men  from,  seize 
vessel,  288;  Benedict  Arnold  born 
in,  289;  post-office  established  in, 
311;  bank  organized  in,  322 ;  savings 
bank  in,  322;  cotton  industry  in, 
363;  silk  industry  in,  364;  men 
enlisted  at,  382;  meeting  at,  398; 
railroad  from  New  Loudon  to,  416; 
workhouse  in,  43 1 ;  Sheltering  Arms 
Hospital  at,  484;  home  for  con- 
sumptives at,  484;  Mrs.  Sigourney 
born  in,  504;  Mitchell  born  in,  507; 
increase  in  value,  549 

and  Worcester  Railroad  Co.,  416 

Fire  Insurance  Co.,  398 

Free  Academy  incorporated,  223 

Hospital  for  the  Insane  opened, 

468 

Marine  Insurance  Co.  becomes 

Fire  Insurance  Co.,  398 


O 


Oberlin,  Finney  president  of,  247 
Occum,  Samson,  a  converted  Indian, 
51;  is  ordained,  51;  goes  to  Eng- 
land for  money,  52 
Ohio,  Connecticut  gets  tract  in,  203, 
308 ;  migration  to,  203  et  seq. ;  Cutler 
speaks  for,  203 ;  Connecticut  people 
in,  206;  sales  in,  for  school  fund, 
212;  missionaries  go  to,  370 
Old  Connecticut  Path,  Holland  writes 
of,  249,  250 

North  Road  built,  259 

Saybrook,  Acton  Library  at,  227 

Old-Town  Folks,  by  H.  B.  Stowe,  506 
Oldham,  John,   sets  out  to  explore 
Connecticut     River,      5;     settlers 
follow  path  of,  11;  among  "  Adven- 
turers,"  11;  Pequots  kill,  38 


Index 


595 


Olmstead,  Denison,  professor  at  Yale, 

236 
Olney,  Jesse,  Atlas  Geography, by,  220, 

503 
On  a  Portrait  of  Red  Jacket,  by  Hal- 

leck,  quoted,  502 
Oneida  Indians,  Kirkland  missionary 

to  the,  245 
Onondaga,  31 
Ontario,    Lake,    expedition    reaches, 

204 
Orange  Judd  Hall  erected,  243 
Order  of  Cincinnati,  342 
Ordinance,  Cutler's  part  in  drafting 

of,  226 

Northwest,  203 

Ore  Hill,  ore  first  discovered  at,  191 
Oregon,  slavery  prohibited  in,  378 
Orient,  successor  City  Fire  Insurance 

Co.,     403;     pays    Boston    losses, 

403 
Oriental,  Salisbury  first,  scholar,  237 
Osburn  Hall  built,  239 
Osgood,    S.    S.,   a   portrait    painter, 

518 
Outcast,  and    other   Poems,    The,    by 

Goodrich,  504 
Owen,  John  J.,  on  faculty  of  New 

York  City  College,  246 
Owenico,  son  of  Uncas,  46 


Pacific  Ocean,  charter  bounds  to 

the,  199 
Packer,    Asa,    developer    of     Lehigh 

Valley  Railroad,  226 
Paine,  Richard  P.,  conductor  Choral 

Union,  534 
Paine,  Solomon,  the  Clevelands  hear, 

271 
Palmer,  urged  fortifying  of  Bunker 

Hill,  285 
Palmer,  Mrs.  William  H.,  land  given 

by,  476 
Paper,  first  factories  in  Connecticut, 

194 
Paris,  Gallaudet  at,  472 
Parker,  Horatio,  works  of,  535 
Parker  Academy  in  Woodbury,  223 
Parley,  Peter,  Goodrich  writes  under 

name  of,  504 
Parley's  Magazine,  504 
Parliament,  bill  to  consolidate  New 

England    in,     140;    forbids    paper 

money,  320 
Pf.rsons,  S.  H.,  one  of  "committee," 

283 


Particular     Court,     organized,     83; 

changed  to  the  Quarter  Court,  83; 

becomes  Court  of  Assistants,  84 
Partridge,     Captain     Alden,     opens 

academy,  242 
Pastoral  Union  controls  Theological 

Seminary,  244 
Paterson,  Edward,  an  Irishman,  190 
Paterson,  William,  an  Irishman,  190 
Patient  Killed  by  a  Cancer  Quack,  A, 

quoted,  499 
Patrick,    Captain,  on    way    to    join 

Mason,  42 
Patterson,    William,  presents  Jersey 

Plan,  301 
Paugussetts,    Indian   inhabitants    of 

Connecticut,   29;  Ansantawae  sa- 
chem of,  35 
Pawcatuck  River,  boundary  in  middle 

channel    of,     177;    Rhode    Island 

secures,  177 
Peabody  Museum,  founding  of,  237; 

paleontological  collection  in,   240; 

Pease,  Captain  Levi,  famous  stage- 
driver,  257,  419;  starts  stage-route, 

257 
Peck,  Elizabeth,  testimony  of,  445 
Peck,  Paul,  testimony  of,  445 
Peekskill,  line  at,  173 
Pembascus  shoots  last  wolf,  117 
Penn,  William,  helps  Quakers,   139; 
given  grant  in  Pennsylvania,  200; 
212 
Pennsylvania,     Connecticut     claims 
part  of,  200;  Penn  given  grant  in, 
200;  objects  to  treaty,  200;  Wyom- 
ing   given    to,    201 ;    Connecticut 
people  in,  206;  petition  to  Congress 
from,  308 
Pequot  Hill,  statue  of  Mason  on,  46 

Path,  post  road  follows,  250 

Pequots,  Uncas  seeks  to  be  head  of, 
5;  forts  and  wigwams  of  the,  29; 
conquer  Quinnipiacs,  30;  war  with 
Narragansett  Indians,  30;  unable 
to  conquer  Narragansetts,  31; 
begin  their  outrages,  38;  torture  of 
Englishmen  by,  39;  try  to  make 
allies  of  Narragansetts,  39;  General 
Court  decides  to  war  against,  40; 
Underbill  defeats  the,  40;  Mason's 
army  attacks,  43;  "wiped  out" 
by  Mason,  43  et  seq.;  Stoughton 
kills  remains  of,  44;  slavery  in  time 
of  war  with,  155;  war  with,  re- 
ferred to,  181 
Percival,  Edwin,  sketches  by,  517 


596 


Index 


Percival,  James  G.,  a  poet-geologist, 

502 
Perkins,  Isaac,  secretary  ^tna  Co., 

399 
Perkins,  Joseph,  enlists  as  volunteer, 

382 
Perkins,  Thomas  C,  secretary  of  the 

Protection,  400 
Perkins  School,  education  of  blind  at, 

474 

Peters,  Rev.  Hugh,  arrival  of,  14 

Peters,  Samuel,  a  history  by,  93;  Sons 
of  Liberty  attack,  94;  goes  to 
England  via  Boston,  94;  spiteful 
history  of  Connecticut  by,  94; 
quoted,  95,  103,  117;  referred  to, 
103 

Peter's  Spies,  punishment  of,  294 

Phelps,  Dr.  Guy  R.,  Connecticut 
General  Life  started  by,  408 

Phelps,  Mrs.  Almira,  sister  of  Mrs. 
Willard,  225 

Phelps,  Oliver,  sells  Ohio  land,  203 

Phelps,  William,  made  an  authority, 
55;  one  of  the  "Corte, "  81 

Phelps  Memorial  Hall  built,  239 

Philadelphia,  Arnold  in  command  at, 
290;  convention  held  at,  298;  boat 
to,  313;  paper  money  in,  321; 
Bank  of  North  America  in,  393 

Philip,  King,  sachem  of  the  Wam- 
panogs,  47;  war  with,  47;  attacks 
Swanzey,  48;  Connecticut  during 
war,  123 

Phoenix,  the,  organized,  402;  pays 
Chicago  losses,  403 

Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Tem- 
perance Insurance  changed  to,  410 

Pierce,  Sarah,  teaches  girls'  school, 
222 

Pierpont,  John,  an  anti-slavery  poet, 

503 

Pierson,  Abraham,  comes  to  Connec- 
ticut, 21 ;  made  minister  of  church, 
21;  preaches  to  Indians,  50 

Pierson,  John,  379 

Pierson,  Rev.  Abraham,  made  rector 
of  college,  229;  death  of,  230 

Pierson  Hall  built,  239 

Pigott,  Rev.  George,  a  missionary 
priest,  141 

Pilgrims,  Dutchman  tells,  of  Blok's 
find,  5;  claims  ignored  by  Dor- 
chester people,  13;  few  in  Con- 
necticut, loi;  renounce  Church  of 
England,  loi 

Pinchot,  James  W.,  gives  School  of 
Forestry,  239 


Pinckney,  suggestion  by,  302 

Piscataqua  denied  admission  to 
league,  182 

Pitkin,  Caleb,  founder  Western  Re- 
serve University,  246 

Pitkin,  Colonel  Joseph,  home  of,  in 
East  Hartford,  106 

Pitkin,  William,  on  building  com- 
mittee, 59;  interviews  Fletcher, 
178;  reference  to,  280 

Pitkin  &  Co.,  Samuel,  makers  velvet, 
etc.,  315 

Plainfield,  settling  of,  26;  Quinnabaug 
Plantation  changed  to,  196;  border 
war  with  Canterbury,  197;  first 
town  meeting  in,  198;  first  academy 
in,  221;  highway  to  go  to,  252; 
ordered  to  lay  out  road,  253;  cotton 
industry  in,  363 

Plan  for  Improving  Female  Education, 
by  Mrs.  Willard,  224 

Plant,  Morton  F.,  endows  woman's 
college,  243 

Plantation  Committee,  420 

Court,  establishing  of,  2 1 

Plattsburg,  Arnold  in  naval  battle 
at,  290 

Plymouth,  sends  boat  to  Connecticut, 
5;  signs  treaty  with  Dorchester 
people,  14;  referred  to,  15,  199; 
policy  of,  130;  population  of,  181; 
leagues  with  other  colonies,  181 
et  seq.;  disagrees  with  Massachu- 
setts, 182;  Seth  Thomas  factory  in, 

Company,  sale  made  by,  202 

Great  Meadow,  Ludlow  settles 

on,  13 

Rock,  Blok  passes,  5;  557 

Pocahontas  an  Algonkin  Indian,  28 
Pocanokets  referred  to,  46 
Pocomtocks  referred  to,  46 
Podunks,  homes  of,  29 
Poetical  Meditations,  by  Wolcott,  497 
Point  Judith,  Mason's  party  passes, 

41 

Policy  Number  Two,  392 

Pomeraug,  25 

Pomfret,  first  town  meeting  in,  198; 

Library  Association  formed  by,  311; 

and  Mortlake  Library,  311 
Manufacturing  Co.,  mill  erected, 

363 
Pond    Rock,    formmg    of    mountain 

called,  3 
Poor,  chapter  in  laws  called,  424 
Port  Chester,  road  from  Westerly  to, 

262 


Ind 


ex 


597 


Porter,  Admiral,  Terry  cooperates 
with,  389 

Porter,  Augustus,  conducts  expedi- 
tion, 203 

Porter,  General  Peter  B.,  services  of, 

334 
Porter,  Noah,  becomes  head  of  Yale, 

238;  incorporator    Invalid    Home, 

491 
Porter,   Sarah,   head  of  Farmington 

School,  222 
Portland,  sandstone  at,  3 
Portrait  of  a  Child,  work  of  Wright, 

521 
Portsmouth,  Jeffrey  from,  190 
Postal     system,    first,     in     America 

started,  250 
Potomac,  Ward  organises  flotilla  of 

the,  384 
Potter,    Horatio,    on    Washington's 

faculty,  241 
Potter,  Louis,  painter  and  sculptor, 

522;  works  of,  522 
Poughkeepsie,  stage  to,  312 
Powhatan,  Algonkin  Indian,  28 
"Practice  Act,"  Connecticut  enacts, 

98 
Pratt,  John,  keeper  of  prison  house, 

438 
Prentice,  George  D.,  editor,  505 
Presbyterian,    a    compromise    with, 

theory,  135 
Presbyterianism,  leaning  towards,  131 
Prescott  urged  fortifying  of  Bunker 

Hill,  285 
Preston,  Prentice  born  in,  505 
Prevost,  letter  to,  quoted,  331 
Prince,  Thomas,  quoted,  122 
Princeton,  Ericsson  designer  of  the, 

Prison  Discipline  Society,  report  of, 
440,  441 

Prisoners'  Friends  Corporation,  453 

Privy  Council,  settles  boundary 
question,  177;  decides  in  favor  of 
Connecticut,  178;  Lee te's  report  to 
the,  188;  343 

Probate  Courts,  growth  of,  86;  in 
1913,  87 

Prometheus,  by  Percival,  502 

Prosser  Farm  Cottage,  in  Bloomfield, 
481 

Protection,  insurance  company,  incor- 
porated, 400;  the,  collapses,  401 

Piovidence,  Pequot  Path  to,  250; 
first  post  road  through,  250;  high- 
way to  go  through,  252;  mail  route 
to,  311;  Brownell  born  in,  521 


Prudden,  Peter,  leads  first  settlers 
on  Housatonic,  20 

Public  Utilities  Commission  ap- 
pointed, 418 

Punderson,  John,  one  of  pillars  of 
church,  19 

Purcell,  Henry,  526 

Puritan  Decline,  The,  122 

Puritans,  loi;  family  worship  among, 
121 

Putnam,  mill  built  in,  363 

Putnam,  Israel,  story  of,  in  the  wolf's 
den,  117;  frees  his  slave,  157;  re- 
ference to,  281;  goes  to  the  war, 
284;  services  of,  at  Boston,  285; 
commissioned'  by  Congress,  286 

Pym,  John,  Hooker  related  to,  8 

Pynchon,  John,  writes  book  on 
Atonement,  121;  Massachusetts 
burns  book  by,  121 

Pynchon,  Thomas  R.,  succeeds  Good- 
win, 242;  a  distinguished  chemist, 
510 

Pynchon,  William,  settles  Spring- 
field, 12;  heads  emigration  from 
Roxbury,  53;  representative  of 
Roxbury  party,  54;  made  an 
authority,  55;  monopoly  of  trade 
with  Indians,  56;  fined  for  bad 
faith,  57 

Pyquag  or  Wethersfield,  "Adven- 
turers" settle  in,  11 


Q 


Quakers,  teachings  of  the,  121;  Con- 
necticut's treatment  of,  137  et  seq.; 
orders  in  New  England  to  abolish 
all,  138;  queen  annuls  law  against, 
139;  challenge  establishment,  142 

"  Quaneh-ta-cut, "  Indian  name  for 
Connecticut  River,  4 

Quarter  Court,  Particular  Court 
changed  to  the,  83;  became  Court 
of  Assistants,  84 

Quebec,  Arnold  in,  290 

Queen  Anne's  War,  effect  on  Con- 
necticut, 123 

Quinnabaug  Plantation,  changed  to 
Plainfield,  196 

Quinnebaug  River,  Owenico's  land 
on  the,  46;  new  road  from,  253 

Quinnipiac,  New  Haven  first  called, 
17;  Turner  goes  to,  22 

Quinnipiacs,  on  the  shore  of  the  Con- 
necticut, 28;  Pequots  conquer  the, 
30 


598 


Index 


Railroad  Commissioners,  General 
Assembly  creates,  418 

■ Era  helps  industry,  417 

Randolph,  threatens  Connecticut, 
168  et  seq.;  serves  writs  on  Con- 
necticut, 169;  Virginia  Plan  pre- 
sented by,  300 

Raymond,  Joshua,  surveys  new  road, 

251 

Red  Island,  Rhode  Island  named,  by 
Blok,  4 

Red  Jacket,  Cleaveland  wins  con- 
fidence of,  204 

Reeve,  Tapping,  founder  of  law 
school,  97  ;  quoted,  156;  law  writ- 
ings by,  512 

"Reforming  Synod"  called  by  Gen- 
eral Court,  122 

Regicides,  escape  and  pursuit  of  the, 

164  #.        ,  ,     . 

Religion,  voluntary  support  of,  m 
Connecticut,  134 

Religious  Pedagogy,  School  of,  Sem- 
inary includes,  245 

Religious  Poems,  by  H.  B.  Stowe,  506 

Republican,  Baldwin  helps  form, 
party,    379 

Republicans,  Federal  leaders  attack, 
347;  lose  election,  347 

Restless,  Blok's  yacht,  4 

Retreat,  hospital  for  insane,  432 

Reveries  of  a  Bachelor,  by  Mitchell, 
508 

Revolution,  slaves  durmg  the,  158 

Reynolds,  Charles,  steam  carriage 
patented  by,  365 

Rhode  Island,  named  Red  Island  by 
Blok,  4;  within  Connecticut  bound- 
ary, 78;  refuge  of  the  oppressed, 
148;  referred  to,  164;  submits  to 
king,  170;  secures  Pawcatuck  River, 
177;  given  to  Massachusetts,  177; 
denied  admission  to  league,  182; 
Barnard  is  school  superintendent 
in,  225;  votes  for,  297;  delegates 
from,  336 

Assembly  of,  votes  for  high- 
way, 252 

Rich,  Isaac,  builds  Wesleyan  library, 

243  .     ^ 

Richter,  Buck  a  pupil  of,  533 
Ridgefield,  Northrop  a  native  of,  247; 

Goodrich  born  in,  504 
Rietz,  Buck  a  pupil  of,  533 
Right   of   Conscience   Inalienable,   by 

Rev.  John  Leland,  343 


Ripley,  Edwin  R.,  succeeds  Brace,  400 

Rippowams  or  Stamford,  purchase 
and  settling  of,  21 

Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power,  by 
Henry  Wilson,  161,  376 

River  Fight,  poem  by  Brownell,  507 

Robins,  Ephraim,  general  agent  Pro- 
tection, 400 

Robinson,  Edward,  teacher  and  au- 
thor, 510 

Rochambeau  in  military  conference, 
292 

Rock  Nook  Home  of  Norwich,  482 

Rockville,  mill  built  in,  363;  silk 
industry  in,  364 

Rockwell,  Dr.,  head  Vermont  Asylum, 

465 

Rocky  Hill,  24,  196 

Rodman,  391 

Rogerines,  137 ;  begin  to  make  trouble, 
142;  arrested  in  Norwich  for  travel- 
ing, 142;  try  to  break  up  Sunday 
meetings,  142 

Rogers,  Commodore  C.  R.  F.,  from 
Connecticut,  387 

Rogers,  Commodore  John,  from 
Connecticut,    386 

Rogers,  John,  followers  of,  142 

Rogers,  Simeon  S.,  electroplating 
invented  by,  359 

Root,  Jesse,  at  convention,  350 

Rosebery,  Lord,  471 

Rossia  Insurance  Co.  of  St.  Peters- 
burg, 403 

Rous,  John,  a  Quaker  preacher,  138; 
testifies  in  favor  of  Connecticut, 

139 

Rowland,  T.  F.,  makes  iron  bat- 
tery," 388 

Roxbury,  people  of,  change,  12;  Pyn- 
chon  leaves,  53;  settlers  from,  198; 
Warner  born  in,  199 

Russell,  Rev.  John,  conceals  judges, 
166 

Russell,  Rev.  Nodiah,  appointed 
librarian,  229 

Russell,  Thomas  W.,  president  Con- 
necticut General  Life,  408 

Russell,  William,  quoted,  125 

Rye,  New  York  receives,  174;  Mad- 
ame Knight  reaches,  252 


Sable,  Cape,  Augur  dies  at,  186 
Sachem's  Head,  naming  of,  45 
Saffery  surveys  Massachusetts  bound- 
ary, 176 


Index 


599 


Sag  Harbor,  Meigs's  attack  on,  291 
St.  Francis  Orphan  Asylum  at  New 

Haven,  483 
Genevieve,  first  western   mines 

in,  204,  205 
James  Asylum  at  Hartford,  483 

John's  Church  House  in  Stam- 
ford, 482 

Industrial  School  at  Deep 

River,  483 

Lawrence  River,   canal    to    be 

joined  to,  415 

Louis,  Lyon  in  charge  of  arsenal 

at,  383;  great  fire  of,  401 

Margaret's  School  at  Water- 
bury,  222 

Paul's,  Buck  organist  at,  533 

Salem,  Higginson  preached  in,  122; 
Deborah  Wilson  in,  138;  witch- 
craft rages  in,  146;  152 

Salisbury,  Edward  E.,  professor  of 
Arabic,  237;  Whitney  a  pupil  of, 

Salisbury,  Bear  Mountain  in,  i ;  iron 
mines  at,  3,  191;  guns  made  of, 
iron,  192;  referred  to,  198;  sale  of, 
212;  Scoville  Library  m,  227;  can- 
nons made  in,  291;  iron  works  at, 
314;  railroad  to  run   through,  416 

Saltonstall,  Gurdon,  governor  of 
Connecticut  17  years,  73;  portrait 
of  family  of,  515 

Saltonstall,   Lake,   mill  installed  on, 

Sandemanians,  beginning  of  the,  278 
Sanford,     Samuel,     and     the     Yale 

School  of  Music,  535 
Sanford,    Thomas,    an    underwriter, 

392 ;  forms  insurance  company,  393 
Sanford,  Zachary,  grandson  of  Adams, 

59;  becomes  landlord  of  tavern,  59; 

death  of,  59 
Sanskrit,  Whitney's  works  in,  510 
Saratoga,  Arnold  at,  290 
Sassacus,  made  sachem  of  Pequots,  3 1 ; 

a  Pequot  chief,  38 ;  residence  of,  42 ; 

Mason    tracks,    44;    beheaded   by 

Mohawks,  45 
Saugatuck,  Tryon  lands  at,  290 
Sausaman,  J.,  betrays  Indians,  48;  a 

Christian  Indian,  48;  murdered  by 

King  Philip,  48 
Savings  banks,  beginning  of,  322 
Savoy    Confession   adopted    by   the 

Synod,  135 
Say,  Lord,  associate  of  Ludlow,  75; 

interested  in  colonies,  77 
Say  brook,  on  a  glacial  sand  plain,  3; 


provisions  blocked  at,  11;  becomes 
a.Connecticut  township,  16;  referred 
to,  23;  Gardner  in  command  of  fort 
at,  39;  attack  on  men  of,  39;  fort 
at,  besieged,  39;  Englishmen  reach, 
40;  Synod  meets  at,  135;  Capt, 
Bull  in  command  of,  173;  becomes 
a  port  of  entry,  187;  becomes  a  law- 
ful port,  187;  academy  in,  222;  Sea- 
bury  Institute  in,  224;  proposed  for 
college  site,  229;  first  commence- 
ment in,  230;  wants  Yale  College, 
231;  objects  to  library's  removal, 
231;  people  of,  destroy  books,  231; 
Madame  Knight  reaches,  251; 
British  destroy    property  at,    333 

Platform  formed,   135;  referred 

to.  137,  341 ;  General  Assembly 
adds  to  the,  140;  faculty  must  as- 
sent to,  232;  continuance  of,  273; 
churches  repudiate,  274;  disappear- 
ance of,  277;  Short  publishes,  311 

Point,  John  Tully  of,  113 

Schneider,   Buck  studies  under,  533 

Scholfield,  Arthur,  woolen  machines 
started  by,  363 

Scholfield,  John,  woolen  machines 
started  by,  363 

School,  early,  in  Connecticut,  207  ff. 

Commissioners,     bill    provides, 

225 

for  Imbeciles,  437 

Fund  in  Connecticut,  210 

School  Journal,  Connecticut  Common, 
founded,  214 

School  of  Forestry,  Pinchot  gives, 
239 

Schoolmaster's  Assistant,  The,  Da- 
boU's  arithmetic,  220 

Scotland,  killing  of  witches  in,  145 

Scott,  General  Winfield,  referred  to, 
331;  quoted,  382 

Scottish  Union  and  National  Insur- 
ance, agency  in  Hartford  for,  403 

Scoville,  Hoadley  designs,  house,  523 

Scoville  Library  in  Salisbury,  227 

Scr anion  Memorial  library  at  Madison, 
227 

Sea-Bird's  Song,  The,  by  Brainard, 
503 

Scabury,  Bishop,  reference  to  con- 
secration of,  240 

Seabury,  Samuel,  made  Bishop  of 
Connecticut,  141  et  seq. 

Seabury  College  at  Cheshire,  240; 
very  limited  charter  for,  240 

Hall  built,  241 

Institute  incorporated,  224 


6oo 


Index 


Seager,  Mrs.  Richard,  Ann  Cole  de- 
nounces, as  a  witch,  148 

Sedgwick,  John,  services  and  death 
of,  390 

Seely,  Capt.,  death  of,  48 

Seelye,  JuHus  H.,  president  Amherst 
College,  246 

Seelye,  L.  Clark,  president  Smith 
College,  246 

Sele,  Lord,  associate  of  Ludlow,  75; 
interested  in  colonies,  77 

Seminary  of  Saint  Joseph  in  Hartford, 
224 

Senate,  branch  of  legislature,  351 

Seney,  George  I.,  gives  to  Wesleyan, 

243 

Separatists,  Clevelands  attend  a 
meeting,  271 ;  send  petition  to  King, 

273 
Sequasson,  son  of  Soheag,  6;  deeds 

Hartford  to  Stone,  12;  referred  to, 

29;  overthrown  by  the  Pequots,  30; 

connections  of,  30 
Sequins,  Indian  tribe  at  Middletown, 

4;  Middletown  capital  of  the,  29; 

31 

Seth  Thomas  Clock  Company  organ- 
ized, 358 
Sewall,  Judge  Samuel,  prepares  col- 
lege charter,  229 
Seymour,  one  of  first  libraries  in,  227 
Shackmaple,  John,  appointment  for, 

189 
Shad  Spirit,  The,  by  Brainard,  503 
Shakers,  coming  of  the,  278 
Shanklin,  William  A.,  present  presi- 
dent of  Wesleyan,  243 
Sharon,  198;  railroad  to,  416 
Sheffield,  Joseph  E.,  donations  of,  238 
Sheffield   Scientific   School,   start  of, 

238;  Oilman  a  professor  at,  247 
Sheldon,   Elisha,   refuses  to  witness 
ceremony,  280;  cavalry  formed  by, 

285 
Sheltering  Arms  Hospital  at  Norwich, 

484 
Shelton,  home  for  consumptives  at, 

484 
Shepard,  Joseph,  testimony  against, 

445 
Shepard,  Thomas,  quoted,  120 
Shepherd  Boy  and  Washington,  works 

of  Bartholemew,  520 
Sherman,  General,  tribute  to  General 

Lyon  by,  384 
Sherman,    Roger,    reference   to,    73, 

314,  554,  555;    almanac  by,    113; 

denounces  slavery,  163;  delegate  to 


Congress,  281;  at  convention,  298; 
introduces  Connecticut  compro- 
mise, 301;  quoted,  302,  304;  signs 
Connecticut  compromise,  304;  on 
slavery  question,  376;  Earl  paints 
portrait  of,  515;  Ives's  statue  of, 

519 
Shetucket    River,   first  ferry  across, 

96  .  ,  . 

Shipman,     Elias,     forms    insurance 

company,    393;    establishes    own 

business,  393 
Shipman  House,  fireplace  in,  105 
Shore  Line,  the,  chartered,  417 
Short,    Thomas,    first   printing-press 

established  by,  114,  311 
Shrewsbury,  horses  changed  at,  257 
Shumway,  Henry  C,  miniatures  and 

portraits  by,  518 
Sicard,  Abbe,  courtesy  of,  to  Gallau- 

det,  472 
Sickness,  law  entitled,  425 
Sigourney,  Mrs.  Lydia  H.,  books  by, 

504 

Silkworms,  first  raised  m  Connecticut, 

193 
Sill,  Edward  Rowland,  a  lyric  writer, 

509 
Silliman,  Benjamin,  added  to  Yale's 
faculty,  235;  electrical  experiments 
made  by,  236;  on  medical  faculty, 
236;  starts  chemistry  school,  238; 
president  American  Mutual  Life, 
407;  American  Journal  of  Science 
started  by,  508 
Silliman,    Benjamin,  Jr.,   works    on 

chemistry  by,  510 
Silver  City,  Meriden  called,  359 
Simsbury,  settling  of,  25;  destroyed 
by  Indians,  25;  now  Granby,  191; 
copper  found  in,  191;  Westminster 
School  in,  224;  asks  for  highway, 
259;  a  Tory  shot  in,  294;  a  prisoner 
for  debt  at,  447 
Singapore,  System  of  Practice  in,  513 
Six  Nations,  Red  Jacket  of  the,  204; 

Kirkland  is  missionary  to,  226 
Slater,  J.  P.,  gives  school  building, 
223;  gives  museum  to  Norwich,  226 
Slater,  Samuel,  erects  a  mill,  363 
Slater  Museum,  Slater  gives  to  Nor- 
wich, 226 
Slavery,  justification  of,  quoted,  155 
Slaves,  laws  made  for  freeing  of,  157 
Sloane,  physical  laboratory  given,  239 
Sluys,  Hans  den,  14 
Smalley,  John,  born  in  Columbia,  275; 
Emmons  a  pupil  of,  275 


Index 


60 1 


Smith,  Augustus  W.,  improvements 

at  Weslcyan  under,  243 
Smith,     EHhu,    one    of     "Hartford 

Wits,"  498;  American  Poems,  by, 

502 
Smith,    EHzabeth,    testifies    against 

Mrs.  Harrison,  151 
Smith,     Henry,     representative     of 

Roxbury     party,     54;     made     an 

authority,  55 
Smith,  John  Cotton,  Federalist  gov- 
ernor, 348 
Smith,  Junius,  organizer  of  steamship 

company,  365 
Smith,  Nathan,  on  medical  faculty, 

-36  . 

Smith,  President,  of  Trinity,  242 
Smith,  Reuben,  distillery  run  by,  369 
Smith,   Samuel,   first  ship  built  by, 

186 
Smith,    Widow,    kills    rattlesnakes, 

118 
Smith  College,  Seelye  president  of, 

-47 
Smybert,  John,  a  painter,  514 
Society    for    Savings    of    Hartford 

formed,  322 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Cos- 
pel,  etc.,  140 
Soheag,  Sequasson  son  of,  6 
Solomon  Love  Song,  reference  to,  121 
Sons  of  Liberty,  at  odds  with  Peters, 

94;  force  IngersoU  to  resign,  281 ;  in 

every  town,  283 
South  Carolina,  28 
Glastonbury,    Shipman    House 

in,  105 
Manchester,  silk  thread  made 

at,  364;  Cheney  born  in,  518 

Willington,  thread  made  at,  363 

Windsor,    24;   Nawaas   at,   29; 

pays  for  bridge,  261;  Terry  leaves, 

3H 

Southampton,  party  migrates  from, 
21 

Southbury,  settling  of,  25 

Southerton,  Stonington  first  called, 
22 

Southhold,  beginning  of ,  2 1 ;  admitted 
to  Confederacy,  22;  relief  for  poor 
in,  421 

Southington,  Robinson  born  in,  510 

South  wick,  boundaries  of,  176;  Con- 
necticut and  Massachusetts  divide, 
176;  canal  from  New  Haven  to,  415 

Ponds,    canal    to    Long    Island 

Sound  from,  415 

Sowheag,  Wethersfiield  sold  by,  29 


Spain,  academies  of,  221 

Spanish  merino  sheep  introduced  in 
Connecticut,  314 

Sparks,  Jared,  a  president  of  Harvard, 
247;  Life  and  Writings  of  Washing- 
ton, etc.,  by,  502 

Spencer  on  committee,  90 

Sperry,  N.  D.,  indorses  bond,  388 

Sphinx's  Children,  The,  by  Rose  T. 
Cooke,  508 

Spottsylvania,  Sedgwick  killed  at, 
390 

Spring,  Samuel,  trained  by  West,  277 

Springfield,  orAgawam,  settling  of,  12; 
disaster  in,  49;  Pynchon  reaches, 
53;  Agawam  changed  to,  57;  guns 
for  arsenal  at,  192;  to,  by  stage- 
coach, 417 

Stafford,  ironware  made  at,  315 

Stamford,  or  Rippowams,  purchase 
and  settling  of,  21,  123;  in  Con- 
necticut boundary,  175;  becomes  a 
lawful  port,  187;  evening  schools 
in,  216;  Betts  Academy  in,  223; 
Children's  Home  in,  482 

Stamp  Act,  repealed,  281;  reference 
to  the,  279,  556 

Congress,  Johnson  mem- 
ber of,  246 

StancHff,  J.  W.,  a  marine  artist,  519 

Standard,  new  insurance  company,  404 

Standing  Order,  342 

Stanton,  Henry  B.,  379 

Staples  Academy  at  Fairfield,  221 

State  Board  of  Charities,  report  of, 
433;  organization  of,  436 

House,  specifications  for,  59;  524 

Library,  copy  of  seal  in  the,  99; 

Hoadley  librarian  of,  513;  524 

State  Reform  School,  manual  training 
at,  449 

State  Sovereignty  Plan,  Jersey  Plan 
becomes,  301 

Stedman,  Edmund  C,  a  poet-banker, 

509  ,      . 

Steele,  John,  made  an  authority,  55; 

referred  to,  76;  one  of  the  "Corte," 

81 
Steinert,  antiques  in,  collection,  240 
Sterling,  Captain,  largest  ship  for,  190 
Sterling,  cotton  industry  in,  363 
Steuben,  Baron,  teaches  army,  285 
Steward,  Joseph,  a  portrait  painter, 

516;  Waldo  a  pupil  of,  516 
Stiles,  Ezra,  story  about,  and  skives, 

155;    becomes   president   of   Yale, 

234;  interested  in  silk,  314;  head 

Anti-Slavery  Society,  375 


602 


Index 


Stoeckel,  Carl,  benefactor  Choral 
Union,  533 

Stone,  Captain,  a  trader,  38 

Stone,  Samuel,  travels  with  Hooker, 
8;  in  procession  to  Connecticut,  12; 
Hartford  deeded  to,  12;  chaplain 
of  ninety  Englishmen,  40;  a  help 
to  Mason,  41;  prays  for  fighters, 
42;  teaches  in  Indian  school,  51; 
objects  to  Wigglesworth,  132; 
bitterness  between  Goodwin  party 
and,  132;  and  witchcraft,  149 

Stonington,  organization  of,  22;  Pe- 
quot  strongholds  at,  42;  Connec- 
ticut claims,  78;  first  post  road 
through,  250;  attack  by  British  on, 
287;  Tory  vessel  seized  at,  288; 
attack  on,  333;  railroad  from,  416; 
trains  from  New  London  to,  417; 
Gurdon  Trumbull  born  in,  521 

Stony  Creek,  stone  from,  262 

Storrs  Agricultural  College,  referred 
to,  540;  publications  of,  542 

Story;  Professor,  takes  students  to 
Glastonbury,  235 

Stotesbury,  E.  T.,  gives  house  for 
blind,  476 

Stoughton,  Mason  joins,  44;  kills  re- 
maining Pequots,  44;  tracks  Sas- 
sacus,  45 

Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher,  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin,  by,  379;  works  of,  505,  506 

Stowe,  Rev.  Mr.,  of  Middletown,  445 

Strafford,  dark  prospects  under,  JJ 

Stratford,  purchase  and  settling  of, 
20;  referred  to,  29;  new-comers 
settle  in,  139;  Episcopal  Church 
built  in,  141;  becomes  a  lawful 
port,  187;  academy* at,  222;  W.  S. 
Johnson  from,  246 ;  Great  Awaken- 
ing in,  267;  Johnson  born  in,  298 

Strong,  John,  founds  the  True  Repub- 
lican, 346 

Strong,  Nathan,  distillery  owned  by, 
369;  Steward's  portrait  of,  516 

Stuart,  Moses,  a  scholar  and  writer, 

Sturtevant,  G.  J.,  founder  Illinois 
College,  246 

Sudbury,  disaster  in,  49 

Sufferers'  Lands  or  the  Fire  Lands, 
213;  sold  for  school  funds,  213 

Suffield,  settling  of,  24;  disputed  lands 
in,  176;  Connecticut  Literary  In- 
stitute in,  223 ;  one  of  first  libraries 
in,  227;  tobacco  exported  from, 
542 

Suffolk,  Long  Island,  51 


Summers  in  a  Garden,  My,  by  C.  D. 
Warner,  508 

Sumner,  Professor  William  G.,  works 
of,  511 

Sumter,  fall  of,  381 

Superior  Court,  meets  at  New  Haven, 
60;  supersedes  Assistants'  Court, 
85;  members  of,  86;  General  As- 
sembly appoints  judges  for,  86; 
power  of,  86;  89,  493 

Supreme  Court,  justices  of,  98;  343 

of     Errors,     formed,     86; 

ceases,  86 

Surrey,  20 

Susquehanna,  district  named  West- 
moreland, 200;  settlements  in, 
district,  200 

Company  formed,  200 

Swain,  William,  land  sold  to,  20; 
made  an  authority,  55;  one  of  the 
"Corte,"  81 

Swanzey,  Philip  attacks,  48 

Swift,  Zephaniah,  treatise  by,  97; 
referred  to,  342,  349;  policy  of,  in 
Herald,  346;  on  anti-slavery  com- 
mittee, 376 

Sykes,  Dr.  F.  H.,  to  be  president 
of  new  college,  243;  Pease's  helper, 

257 
Synod  meets  at  Saybrook,  135 
System  of  Practice,  by  Field,  Jr.,  513 
of  the  Laws  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut, treatise  by  Swift,  97 


Taconic  School  in  Lakeville,  224 
Tain  tor,  John  A.,  cows  bought  by, 

542 

Talbot,  John,  complaints  of  Con- 
necticut by,  139;  140 

Talcott,  Colonel,  Earl  paints  portrait 

of.  515 

Talcott,  Governor,  ceases  measures 
against  Baptists,  139 

Talcott,  John,  referred  to,  58;  charter 
committed  to,  78 ;  Randolph  serves 
writs  to,  169 

Talcott,  Joseph,  on  building  com- 
mittee, 59 

Talcott  Mountain,  2,  439 

Talcottville,  mill  built  in,  363 

Tariffville,  State  paupers  at,  433 

Taverns,  laws  for,  255 

Taylor,    General,    Mansfield    under, 

385 
Taylor,  Nathanael  W.,  of  the  Divinity 
School,  236;  a  theologist,  512 


Index 


603 


Tennent,  Rev.  Gilbert,  reference  to, 

270 
Tennessee,  missionaries  go  to,  370 
Terry,  Alfred  H.,  in  command  Second 

Regiment,  382;  the  services  of,  389; 

made  Provisional  Major-General  of 

Volunteers,  389 
Terry,  Edward,  from  Connecticut,  386 
Terry,   Eli,   manufacturer  of  clocks, 

314,  357; 358 

Terry,  Eli,  2d,  takes  up  lock  business, 
360 

Terry,  Eliphalet,  meets  insurance 
crisis,  397 

Terry,  General  Nathanael,  in  com- 
mand of  State  corps,  333;  president 
Hartford  Fire  Insurance,  396 

Terry,  Luther,  519 

Testimony  to  the  Order  of  the  Gospel, 
etc.,  by  Higginson,  122 

Texas,  Anglo-American,  Austin, 
maker  of,  204,  205 

votes  for  admission  of,  379 

Thames,  Blok  passes,  4;  Mohicans 
living  on  the,  30 

Thatcher,  Thomas  A.,  a  Latin 
teacher,  237 

Theological  Institute  incorporated, 
244;  changed  to  Hartford  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  244 

Seminary,    Hartford,    founding 

of,  244 

Theology  Explained  and  Defended, 
by  D wight,  512 

"Thirty  Years'  Warfare,"  Connec- 
ticut Mutual  in,  407 

Thomas,  Seth,  maker  of  clocks,  358 

Thomas,  Theodore,  533 

Thompson,  William,  244 

Thompson,  poor  roads  through,  253; 
first  roads  in,  253 ;  refreshments  for 
army  in,  288;  cotton  industry  in, 
363;  Town  born  in,  523 

Thoreau,  505 

Three  Daughters  of  Job,  by  Percival, 
517 

Three  Notches,  forming  of  mountain 
called,  3 

Ticonderoga,  reference  to,  259;  first 
capture,  283 

Tierney,  Bishop,  Industrial  School 
dedicated  by,  483 

Tilley,  James,  manufactures  cordage, 
291 

Tilly,  Joseph,  tortured  by  Pequots, 

39 
Tisdale,  Elkanah,  miniature  painter, 
516 


Tobacco,  first  grown  in  Connecticut, 

192 
Todd,  Dr.  Eli,  urges  relief  for  insane, 

463;    superintends    Retreat,    464; 

many  offers  to,  from  other  States, 

464;  dies  at  Retreat,  465 
Toleration    Act,    first,    passed,     133; 

referred  to,   137,  140,  142;   help  to 

Baptists,  139 
;  party,  fail  to  seat  Wolcott,  348; 

triumph  of,  350 
Tolland,    Nipmuck    Indians    in,    29; 

referred  to,  177;  academy  at,  222; 

West  born  in,  275 

County,  division  of,  197 

Tontine,     Connecticut     Mutual     re- 
fuses to  adopt,  principle,  406 
Tories,  293 
Torrington,  198;  S.  J.  Mills  born  in, 

275;  Collis  P.  Huntington  of,  365; 

John  Brown  born  in,  379 
Town,  Ithiel,  designer,  523;  works  of, 

523 

Town  Commons,  12 

Town  Courts  reorganized,  85 

Tracy,  Uriah,  at  anti-slavery  con- 
vention, 376 

Trade  schools  in  Connecticut,  216 

Travelers  Insurance  Co.,  charter  given 
to,  411 

Travels  in  New  England,  etc.,  by 
Timothy  Dwight,  500 

Travis,  Daniel,  almanac  by,  114 

Treadwell,  John,  ministers  try  to 
elect,  347;  at  convention,  350 

Treat,  Governor,  work  of,  103;  one  of 
special  court,  152;  new  charter 
delivered  to,  169;  favors  surrender 
of  charter,  169;  debate  with  Andros, 
170;  a  comfort  to  the  people,  172; 
sends  troops  to  Albany,  178; 
Fletcher's  commission  presented  to, 
179 

Treat,  Major,  in  command  of  English, 
48 

Treat,  Richard,  father  of  Governor 
Treat,  103 

Trenton,  boat  to,  313 

Trinity  Church,  Town  designs,  523 

College,  now  on  "  Gallows  Hill,  " 

149;  the  history  of,  240;  Washing- 
ton, changed  to,  241;  Hartford 
buys  land  for,  241;  new  buildings 
for,  242;  the  presidents  of,  242; 
theological  department  in,  245; 
charter  given  to,  351;  statue  of 
Brownell  at,  519 

Troy,  Willard  School  in,  224 


604 


Index 


True  Republican,  Strong  founds  the, 

346  .  r  . 

Trumbull,  Gurdon,  a  painter  of  fish, 

521 
Trumbull,    J.    Hammond,    head    of 

libraries,  513 
Trumbull,   John,   one   of   "Hartford 

Wits,"  498;   McFingal,  a  Modern 

Epic,  by,   500;   artistic  career  of, 

515 

Trumbull,  94,  280;  Governor  Jona- 
than, revision  of  laws  by,  273; 
holds  office,  280;  sends  letter  to 
Gage,  283;  Washington  writes  for 
aid  to,  284;  letter  from  Washington 
to,  quoted,  288;  urges  help  for 
army,  288;  refuses  military  aid, 
336;  quoted,  514;  son  of,  an  art- 
ist, 515;  Ives's  statue  of,  519 

Trumbull,  Silliman  born  in,  510 

Trumbull,  war  frigate,  291 

Trumbull  Gallery,  in  the  Art  School, 
240;  Augur's  works  in,  517 

Tryon,  attack  on  New  Haven  by, 
234,  287;  attacks  Danbury,  290; 
Arnold  heads  off,  290;  retires,  291 

Tuke,  William,  referred  to,  464 

Tully,  John,  compiles  first  almanac, 

113 

Tunxis  Indians,  at  the  school,  51 

River,  town  built  on  banks  of,  22 

Turner,     Captain,     made     military 

officer,  22 
Turner's     Dipsomaniac   Retreat  for 

drunkards,  491 
Tweed,  Berwick  on  the,  187 
Twilight,  statue  by  Warner,  522 
Twilight  on  John's  Brook,  work  of 

Fitch,  521 
Tyler,  Bennet,  244;  president  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  512 
Tyler,    General  Daniel,  Connecticut 

regiments    under,    382;    prepares 

regiments,  385 
Tyrone,  County,  the  Patersons  from, 

190 

U 


\ 


\  Uncas,  head  of  the  Mohican  Indians, 
5;  Pilgrims  receive  Connecticut 
from,  6;  Mason  helps,  23;  gives 
land  to  proprietors,  23;  heir  to  the 
Pequots,  30;  driven  from  his 
country,  30;  welcomes  English,  31; 
tracks  Sassacus,  45 ;  land  deeded  by, 
177;  exchange  made  by,  178 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe's,  379,  506 


Underhill,  Captain  John,  takes  pos- 
session of  House  of  Hope,  7;  wins 
battle  with  Pequots,  40;  strengthens 
Mason's  party,  41;  leads  part  of 
army,  43;  associate  of  Ludlow,  75 

Union  Bank,  chartered,  322;  of 
New  London,  392 

Insurance  Co.  of  New  London 

organized,  398 

Library  Association  formed,  311 

University,  Knott  benefactor  of, 

246 

United  Colonies  of  New  England,  The, 
league  named,  1 83 ;  constitution  of, 

^.83 
United  Kingdom,  population  of,  330 

States,  first  girls'  school  in,  222; 

population  of,  330 

Arsenal  at  St.  Louis,  383 

Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion, Barnard  is  first,  225 

Supreme  Court,  Ellsworth's 


head  in,  517 

Worker's    Society    starts   Rock 

Nook  Home,  482 

Universalists,  278 

University  Hall  dedicated,  239 

of  California,  Gilman  first  presi- 
dent of,  247 

of   City   of    New   York,  Morse 

art  professor  at,  517 

of  Georgia,  Baldwin  founder  of, 

246 

of  Minnesota,  Northrop  presi- 
dent of,  247 

Utica,  Dana  born  at,  510 

Asylum,  Brigham  at,  465 


Valley    Forge,  Connecticut   helps 
army  at,  284 

Railroad,  the,  chartered,  417 

Railway,  408 

Vanderbilt  Hall  erected,  239 
Vane,  Sir  Harry,  arrival  of,  14 
Vane,  associate  of  Ludlow,  75 
Vergennes,  French  minister  of  foreign 

affairs,  287 
Vermont,  exchange  of  slaves  in,  156; 
first  governor  of,  199;  land  in,  199; 
first  called  New  Connecticut,  199; 
Connecticut  people  in,  206;  acad- 
emy moved  to,  242 ;  delegates  from, 
336;  missionaries  go  to,  370;  canal 
extended  to,  416 
Verrill,  Addison  E.,  studies  of  deep- 
sea  life,  238 


Index 


605 


Virginia,    trade    with,    189;    tobacco 

growing  from,  192;  votes  for,  297; 

commissioners  from,  308 

Plan  put  before  convention,  300 

Vision  of  Columbus,  The,  by  Barlow, 

quoted,  500 
Vyall,  John,    permission   for   tavern 

granted  to,  255 


W 


"Wabbaquasset  Country,"  Old 
Path  through,  249 

Wadsworth,  Daniel,  president  Saving 
Society,  322;  son  of  Jeremiah,  394; 
gives  to  Historical  Society,    513 

Wadsworth,  Mrs.  Daniel,  reference 
to,  253 

Wadsworth,  Jeremiah,  an  underwriter, 
392 ;  forms  insurance  company,  393 

Wadsworth,  Captain  Joseph,  spirits 
away  and  hides  charter,  170;  out- 
wits Fletcher,  179 

Wadsworth  Atheneum,  523 

Gallery,  Bartholemew  in  charge 

of,  520 

Wagner,  Fort,  Terry  takes,  389 

Waite,  Henry  W.,  a  Chief  Justice  of 
Supreme  Court,  98 

Waite,  M.  R.,  a  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  98 

Wakely,  James,  Bracy  testifies 
against,  151 

Waldo,  Samuel,  a  pupil  of  Steward, 
516 

Walker,  Captain,  in  the  slave  trade, 
156 

Wallingford,  18,  462;  purchase  and 
settling  of,  25;  copper  found  in, 
191 ;  evening  schools  in,  216;  Acade- 
my at,  222 ;  home  for  consumptives 
at,  484 

Walter,  Thomas,  music  book  by,  527 

Waltham,  settlers  take  path  through, 
II 

Wampanoags,  King  Philip  sachem  of, 

47 
Wangunks,  Sequins  called,  29 
Wapegoot,  Pequot  sachem,  31 
Ward,  Andrew,  made  an  authority, 

55;  proposal  of,  202 
Ward,    Capt.    James    H.,    killed    at 

Mathias  Point,  384 
Ward,  Henry,  373 
Ward,  William,  one  of  the  "Corte," 

81 
Wareham,  associate  of  Ludlow,  75 
Warehouse  Point,  founding  of,  53 


Warner,  Charles  Dudley,  works  of, 

508 
Warner,  Olin  L.,  sculptor,  522 
Warner,  Scth,  born  in  Roxbury,  199 
Warren's    Address    at    Bunker    Hill, 

quoted,  503 
Warren,  Finney  a  native  of,  247 
Warwick,  Earl  of,  associate  of  Lud- 
low, 75;  referred  to,  166 
Warwick,  highway  to  go  through,  252 

Neck,  177 

patent,  Winthrop  represents,  56 

Washington,  George,  reference  to, 
106,  108,  516;  letter  to  Trumbull 
from,  quoted,  288;  in  military  con- 
ference, 292;  advice  to  Trumbull 
by,  295;  convention  presided  over 
by,  298;  interested  in  broadcloth, 
315;  quoted,  321;  John  Trumbull 
serves  under,  515 
Washington,  the  Gunnery  at,  223 

College,     incorporated,     241; 

Hartford  chosen  as  site  for,  241; 
Brownell  president  of,  241 ;  the 
faculty  of,  241 ;  changed  to  Trinity, 
241 
Washington,  D.  C,  Connecticut  regi- 
ment reaches,  382 
Watch  Hill,  Mason's  party  passes,  41 
Waterbury,  founding  of,  25;  evening 
schools  in,  216;  St.  Margaret's 
school  at,  222;  Notre  Dame  school 
in,  224;  Carter  a  native  of,  247; 
Hopkins  born  in,  275;  buttons 
made  at,  315;  railroad  to,  417; 
reference  to,  483;  Hoadley  born  in, 
523 ;  increase  in  value,  549 

Hospital,  483 

Watertown,  Oldham  sets  out  from, 
5;  discontent  in,  7;  referred  to,  9, 
54.  554;  organizes  town  govern- 
ment, 10;  pioneers  from,  21; 
changed  to  Wethersfield,  56 ;  lock- 
making  started  in,  360 
Watkinson   Farm   School    for  boys, 

479.  481 

Library,  513 

Watts's  Hymns,  529 

Wauramaug  School  at  New  Preston, 

223 
Wayne,  Anthony,  campaign  of,  203 
Webb  House,  rooms  papered  in,  106 
Webster,  Daniel,  writes  of  Mason,  98 
Webster,  Noah,  first  school-book  by, 
219;   quoted,    219,   312;    writes  of 
academies,  221;  replies  to  Bishop's 
address,  345;  dictionary  by,  503 
Weed,  Mary,  referred  to,  463 


6o6 


Index 


Weeping  Willow,  by  Mrs.  Sigourney, 

504 

Weir,  John  F.,  523 

Welch,  hall  built,  239 

Welles,  Gideon,  Secretary  of  Navy, 
223,  386;  letter  from  to  Bushnell, 
388;  president  Charter  Oak  Life, 
408 

Welles,  John  L.,  patents  printing- 
press,  366 

Wells,  Hugh,  150 

Wepawaugs,  Indians  on  the  Housa- 
tonic,  29;  connections  of,  30 

Wequash,  Mason's  Indian  guide,  43 

Wesleyan  University,  founded,  242; 
first  scientific  course  in,  243;  presi- 
dents of,  243 

West,  Benjamin,  Earl  a  pupil  of,  515; 
Trumbull  a  pupil  of,  516;  Waldo 
a  pupil  of,  516;  Morse  a  pupil  of, 

517 

West,  Steven,  referred  to,  274,  277; 
a  scholar,  275 

West  Greenwich,  highway  to  go 
through,  252 

Hartford,  24;  Rose  Terry  Cooke 

born  in,  508 

Indies,    trade    with    the,     156; 

salted  fish  for  the,  186;  goods 
shipped  to,  188;  horses  shipped  to, 
190 

Rock,  judges  hide  in,  166 

Simsbury,  Humphrey  a  native 

of,  246 

Suffield,  Warner  born  in,  522 

Westchester,  Connecticut  claims,  78; 
Mrs.  Harrison  goes  to,  152 

Westerly,  road  from  Port  Chester  to, 
262 

Western  Lands,  211 

Western  Reserve  of  Connecticut,  a 
tract  in  Ohio,  203;  beginning  of 
interests  in  the,  204;  Connecticut 
gains,  308 

University,     started    by 

Connecticut  man,  246;  Hickock  a 
professor  in,  246 

Westminster,  treaty  of,  173 

Confession,  130 

School  in  Simsbury,  224 

Westmoreland,  Susquehanna  district 
named,  200;  part  of  Litchfield 
County,  200;  becomes  a  county, 
200;  wiped  out  by  Tories,  201 ;  con- 
test over,  308 

Westover  School,  in  Middlebury,  224 

Westwood,  William,  made  an  author- 
ity, 55;  one  of  the  "Corte, "  81 


Wcthersfield,  or  Pyquag,  11;"  Adven- 
turers" settle  in,  11;  settlers  from, 
20;  land  sold  to  people  of,  21; 
migration  from,  2 1 ;  referred  to,  24, 
53,  109,  134,  196;  incorporated,  25; 
Pequots  attack  people  of,  39; 
fighting  men  from,  40;  the  church 
in,  55;  Watertown  changed  to,  56; 
townsmen  in,  71;  represented  in 
"Corte, "  81;  Particular  Court  held 
in,  83;  Webb  House  in,  106;  hemp 
raised  in,  no;  bootmaker  of,  112; 
disagreements  in,  123;  John  Car- 
rington  of,  147;  Mary  Johnson  of, 
147;  Katheran  Harrison  of,  150; 
first  ship  built  in,  186;  stave  busi- 
ness in,  187;  Emerson  School  in, 
223;  one  of  first  libraries  in,  227; 
students  go  to,  230;  wants  Yale 
College,  231;  students  continue  at, 
231 ; D wight  takes  students  to,  235; 
bad  roads  in,  253;  a  ferry  near,  260; 
people  of,  force  IngersoU  to  resign, 
281;  military  conference  held  in, 
292;  new  prison  at,  441;  treat- 
ment in,  prison,  441,  442;  women 
in,  prison,  446;  Blackburn  born  in, 

515 

Whalley,  Major-General  Edward, 
one  of  the  regicide  judges,  164 

Wheaton,  Nathanael  S.,  succeeds 
Brownell,  241 

Wheelock,  Rev.  Eleazer,  pastor  at 
Lebanon,  51;  begins  school,  51; 
school  for  Indians  started  by,  245 

Whispers  to  a  Bride,  by  Mrs.  Sigour- 
ney, 504 

Whitaker,  Nathaniel,  goes  to  England 
for  money,  52 

White,  Andrew  D.,  editor  of  maga- 
zine, 239 

White,  Henry  C,  from  Connecticut, 
386 

White  Hall  built,  239 

Whitfield,  George,  a  revivalist,  233, 
267;  preaches  in  colonies,  267 

Whitfield,  Rev.  Henry,  head  of  set- 
tlers, 20;  home  of,  in  Guilford,  104 

Whiting,  George  E.,  Beethoven  Soci- 
ety founded  by,  535 

Whiting,  Rev.  John,  forms  Second 
Church  in  Hartford,  132;  forbids 
Half-way  Covenant,  133;  describes 
Mrs.  Greensmith,  148 

Whiting,  William,  representative  for 
Connecticut,  169 

Whitman,  Samuel,  election  sermon 
by,  quoted,  125 


Ind 


ex 


607 


Whitmore,  W.  H.,  writes  of  Black- 
burn, 515 

Whitney,  Edward,  gives  school,  480 

Whitney,  Eli,  of  cotton-gin  fame, 
262,  315,  365;  maker  of  firearms, 
361 

Whitney,  William  Dwight,  professor 
of  Sanskrit,  237,  510 

Whittier,  John  Greenleaf,  praises 
Rose  Cooke,  508;  writes  of  Louise 
Moulton,  508 

Wigglesworth,  Michael,  Goodwin  in 
favor  of,  132 

Wilkinson,  Ozias,  erects  a  mill,  363 

Willard,  Mrs.  Emma  Hart,  aid  of 
Henry  Barnard,  214;  school  books 
written  by,  224;  literary  work  of, 

504 
Willard  School,  in  Troy,  224 
William,  comes  to   the   throne,  172; 

confirms  Connecticut  charter,  172; 

allows  postal  service,  250 
Williams,     Asa     H.,     electroplating 

invented  by,  359 
Williams,   Benjamin,    iron-works  of, 

291 
Williams,  Bishop  John,  chancellor  of. 

Trinity,    241;    president    Trinity 

College,  245  ^ 

Williams,  Colonel  Israel,  buys  boots 

of  Williams  of  Wethersfield,  112 
Williams,  Elisha,  students  go  to,  230; 

Yale  prospers  under,  232;  resigns 

rectorship,  232 
Williams,  Ephraim,  bootmaker,  112 
Williams,  Jr.,  Ezekiel,  Morgan  aids, 

394 

Williams,    Matthew,   a    brickmaker, 

109 
Williams,    Roger,    10;    quoted,    33; 

goes  to  plead  with  Narragansetts, 

39 
Williams,  Solomon,  Ezekiel  grandson 

of,  394 
Williams,   Thomas   S.,  secretary  in- 
surance company,  395 
Williams  College,   Connecticut  men 

heads  of,  247 

Memorial  Institute,  224 

Williamson,   Caleb,   court  moves   to 

tavern  of,  59 
Willimantic,   Normal  School  at,  216; 

cotton    industry    in,  363;    line  to, 

completed,  417 

Linen  Co.  organized,  363 

Willington,  Sparks  a  native  of,   247, 

502 
Wilmington,  Terry  takes,  389 


Wilson,  Deborah,  a  Quaker  preacher, 
138 

Wilson,  Henry,  Rise  and  Fall  of  Slave 
Power  by,  161;  on  slavery  ques- 
tion, 376 

Wilton,  partly  in  Connecticut,  175; 
academy  at,  222;  Dipsomaniac  Re- 
treat at,  491 ;   Stuart  born  in,  510 

Winchester  Arms  Company,  361 

Hall  built,  239 

Observatory,  founding  of,  237 

■  Repeating    Arms    Co.,    absorbs 

other  companies,  361 

Windham,  dispute  over  lands  in,  24; 
in  tract  given  to  Mason,  25;  Nip- 
mucks  in,  29;  Battle  of  the  Frogs  at, 
116;  Deacon  Gray  of,  157;  settling 
of,  197  et  seq.;  division  of,  197;  first 
town  meeting  in,  198;  Wheelock 
from,  245;  mail  route  to,  311; 
hosiery  made  in,  314;  silkworms  in, 
364;  care  of  poor  at,  434;  jail  at, 
439;  Cushman  born  in,  520 

-County,    wolf    hunts    in,    117; 

referred  to,  200,  493 ;  first  academy 
in,  221;  Separatists'  churches  in, 
271 

■ Peace  Society  formed,  377 

Green,  references  to,  254 

Windham  Herald,  advertisements  in, 
309;  policy  of,  346 

Windsor,  brick  supply  in,  3;  trading 
house  in,  11 ;  sends  installment, 
11;  uneasiness  among  Pilgrims  at, 
13;  referred  to,  24,  29,  53,  125; 
purchase  of  lands  near,  25;  incor- 
porated, 25;  connections  of  Indians 
of,  30;  fighting  men  from,  40; 
Dorchester  changed  to,  56;  towns- 
men in,  71 ;  represented  in  "  Corte, " 
81;  second  court  held  in,  82;  Pil- 
grims fare  badly  in,  loi;  eating 
customs  in,  108;  Captain  Mason  of, 
no;  Rev.  Mather  of,  124;  Alse 
Young  of,  146;  obtains  part  of 
Litchfield  County,  169;  Female 
Seminary  at,  222 ;  first  road  made 
to,  250;  Great  Awakening  in,  267; 
Ellsworth  from,  298;  a  prisoner  for 
debt  at,   447;  Roger  Wolcott  of, 

497 

Female  Seminary,  at  Windsor, 

222 

Lock,  24 

Winslow,  Edward,  goes  to  Connecti- 
cut, 5;  goes  to  Boston,  5;  confers 
with  Dorchester  leaders,  13 ;  quoted, 
33 


6o8 


Index 


Winslow,  John  F.,  cooperates  with 
Bushnell,  387;  becomes  Ericsson's 
partner,  388 

Winsted,  Gilbert  School  at,  224;  mill 
built  in,  363;  silk  industry  in,  364; 
first  enlistment  at,  382;  Gilbert 
Home  at,  482 ;  referred  to,  483 

Winthrop,  Fitz-john,  sent  to  confirm 
charter,  172;  voted  to  intercede 
with  king,  178 

Winthrop,  Jr.,  John,  head  of  the 
Puritans,  9;  commissioned  gover- 
nor of  Connecticut,  14;  appointed 
commissioner  by  Connecticut,  15; 
at  first  conference,  15;  not  ac- 
knowledged by  English  up  river, 
15;  goes  to  New  London,  22;  buys 
land,  25;  represents  Warwick  pat- 
ent, 56;  referred  to,  58;  governor 
of  Connecticut  18  years,  73; 
associate  of  Ludlow,  75;  sails  with 
request,  77;  Connecticut  awaits 
return  of,  78;  yields  Long  Island 
to  NicoUs,  80;  seal  on  commission 
of,  99;  difficulties  endured  by,  103; 
indictment  of  Mrs.  Harrison  made 
under,  150;  goes  to  court  for 
charter,  166;  favors  surrender  of 
charter,  169;  on  commission  board, 
183;  petition  of,  191;  sets  up  mill, 
191;  reference  to,  249;  had  one  of 
early  coaches,  254 

Winthrop,  Margaret,  quoted,  103 

Winthrop,  Theodore,  killed  at  Big 
Bethel,  384;  works  of,  508 

Wisconsin,  early  governors  of,  205; 
school  system  of,  206 

University  of,  Barnard  is  chan- 
cellor of,  225 

Wolcott,  Jr.,  Henry,  takes  notes  of 
sermon,  61 

Wolcott,  Oliver,  a  Yale  man,  235; 
addresses  convention,  304;  speaks 
of  taxes,  325;  failure  to  seat,  348; 
made  governor,  348;  as  governor, 
349;  reelected  governor,  350 

Wolcott,  Roger,  writes  of  state  seal, 

L  99;  revision  of  laws  by,  273;  re- 
ferred to,  496;  Poetical  Medita- 
tions, by,  497 

Wolcott,  Seth  Thomas  born  in,  358; 
Alcott  born  in,  504 

WoUcott,  Alexander,  presides  at 
convention,  350 

Woodbridge,  18 

Hall  dedicated,  239 

Woodbury,  settlement  made  in, 
20;  William  Curtis  settles,  25;  re- 


ferred to,  198;  Parker  academy  in, 
223 

Woodstock,  settlers  take  path 
through,  1 1 ;  last  wolf  killed  in,  1 1 7 ; 
disputed  land  in,  176;  the  settling 
of,  198;  Jedediah  Morse  of,  219; 
academy  built  in,  221;  Path 
through,  249;  interest  in  first 
wagon  at,  254;  Library  Associa- 
tion formed  by,  311 

Academy,  223 

Woodward,  Dr.,  at  Massachusetts 
Insane  Hospital,  464 

Woodward,  P.  Henry,  vice-president 
Connecticut  General  Life,  408 

Woodworth,  Widow,  118 

Woolsey,  Theodore  Dwight,  Day's 
successor,  237;  great  authority  of 
law,  237;  many  works  by,  511 

Woolsey,  Theodore  S.,  contributes  to 
reform  school,  448 

Woolsey  Auditorium,  memorial  or- 
gan in,  239 

Wooster,  Major-General  David,  a 
Yale  man,  235 

Worcester,  Bay  Path  through,  249 

Work,  Henry  Clay,  a  song-writer,  507 

Worthington  founded,  205 

College,   Kilburn   president  of, 

205 

Wright,  Elizur,  405 

Wright,  George  F.,  work  of,  521,  522 

Wyllys,  Colonel  George,  Earl  paints 
portrait  of,  515 

Wyllys,  Samuel,  charter  committed 
to,  78;  one  of  "committee,"  90, 
283;  charter  hidden  in  oak  be- 
longing to,  170 

Wyoming  given  to  Pennsylvania,  201 

Country,    Pennsylvania   called, 

200 


Yale,  Elihu,  contributions  to  college 
from,  23 1 ;  new  building  named  for, 
231 

Yale,  Hiram,  finds  new  metal,  359 

Yale,  Jr.,  Linus,  inventor  Yale  lock, 
360 

Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, in  Stamford,  360 

Yale  Art  School,  523 

"Yale  College,  President  and  Fel- 
lows of, "  new  charter  for,  232 

Yale,  "Collegiate  School,"  beginning 
of,  208 

Field,  purchase  of,  238 


Index 


609 


Yale  Literary  Magazine,  some  editors 
of,  239;  established,  239 

Lock,     fame    to     Connecticut 

through, 360 

Medical  Institution  of,  chartered, 

236 

Yale  School  of  Forestry,  publica- 
tions of,  542 

School  of  Music,  535 

University,    Cutler   Rector    of, 

141;  the  founding  of,  228  ff.;  is 
divided,  230;  social  strata  in,  232 
et  seq.;  Cutler  made  Rector  of, 
232;  beginning  of  the  modem,  235; 
Revolutionary  heroes  from,  235; 
divided  during  the  Revolution,  235; 
library  building  completed  at,  237; 
football  begun  at,  238;  beginning 


of  Harvard  games  with,  238;  gym- 
nasium  built   for,   239;   School   of 
Forestry  founded  at,  239;  infirm- 
ary  given,    239;    domitories    built 
at,    239;    valuable    collections    in, 
240;    Johnson  a  graduate  of,  246; 
Whitefield   condemns,    270;   John- 
son educated  at,  298;  religious  life 
in,  368;  theological  school  at,  370 
York,  Duke  of,  Long  Island  granted 
to,   80;   patents  granted  to,    173; 
referred  to,  199 
York,  settlers  come  from,  20 
Yorktown,  surrender  of,  292 
Young,  Alse,  first  victim  of  witch- 
craft craze,  146 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
headquarters  of,  239 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


